Twenty One
by iluvjb4ever123
Summary: Best friends since birth. They were like each other's guardian angels. They made a promise; a promise that would soon change the rest of their lives. He had a secret and so did she. Would they ever admit it? Niley.
1. The Beginning

**a/n: Let's see how this story turns out...**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Twenty One

**Chapter One**

_The Beginning_

_Only born two months apart, they built an inseparable bond the second they laid eyes on each other. Now both, 15, they were both maturely at an increasingly fast rate. They weren't like other teens, they kept their distances from high school parties, drugs, alcohol, but that didn't stop their minds from wandering around the subject…_

_Both bodies were lying down on the freshly mowed green lawn in the backyard of Miley's Malibu home. They were both just lying there, soaking in the sunshine and enjoying the rest of summer before the school year rolled around once again and they would be juniors. Miley turned to her best friend, her eyes shining with curious questions that were currently in the midst of her thoughts. "Nick?" She whispered._

"_Hmm?" Nick tore his attention from the clouds high above the blue skies and looked over at the curious teen._

"_Do you ever want to go to those parties that Selena always invites you to?" Miley asked as she shifted her body weight onto her side, waiting for Nick's answer. "I mean I know how my daddy is about them, but sometimes I want to know how it is."_

_Nick shrugged his shoulders lightly and raised his eyebrow at her, "Why the sudden curiosity?"_

_Miley sat up and soon Nick was sitting upright as well, "Well, the other day Lilly was telling me about this party she went to last weekend and it just got me thinking a lot…"_

"_And you want to go to one now?" Nick finished the sentence for her._

"_I mean, we're 15, Nick and we haven't even gone to our first high school party. We're not gonna get any younger!" Miley threw her arms up dramatically, getting a chuckle out of Nick. "It's not funny." Miley groaned._

"_Is it because you want to be like the other girls and drink?" Nick asked._

"_No, well, I don't know." Miley muttered. "We could just go to have fun. We're always stuck here with my dad and his long stories of when he was kid. They're getting kinda old. I'm sure Jackson wouldn't mind dropping us off on his way to wherever." Miley looked at Nick with hopeful eyes._

"_I'm fine with being here." Nick teased as he laid back down on the grass, placing both his hands behind his head. He looked over at Miley, amused with her face expression._

"_Fine. I'll go by myself." Miley told him and got up, but not before he quickly grasped onto her hand._

"_Yeah, I don't think so." Nick got up, his fingers still wrapped around her wrist, not daring to let her go._

_Miley couldn't help, but feel the butterflies flutter around her stomach as Nick stared at her, a serious expression plastered onto his features. She fought back the warm feeling she was now experiencing every time she was with Nick. "You're not the boss of me!" She yelled lamely at him._

_Nick stared deep in her eyes, trying to find why she really wanted to go off to one of these parties that their friends never shut up about. He didn't find any, but he sure got lost in her ocean blue orbs. He quickly shook her out of his thoughts, "It doesn't matter if I am or not. You're my best friend, Mi. I don't want something bad to happen to you." He told her._

_Miley felt a soft blush creep onto her cheeks; she tried her hardest to look away from Nick, but his hand was still firmly situated around her wrist. She sighed, defeated. "Fine, but can we make a promise?"_

_Nick couldn't help, but grin when he saw how shy Miley was becoming. He had to fight the urge to run his fingertips along her reddened cheeks. He hesitantly let go of her wrist, dropping his hand down to his side. "What's the promise?"_

"_Since 'dad' here won't let me go to a party unsupervised… When I turn 21, you have to promise me that you'll take me out and we can drink until there's no tomorrow." Miley smirked at him._

"_Fine." Nick grumbled. "But that's 6 years from now, so I have nothing to worry about until then." He smiled at her and watched as her smile wiped off of her face._

"_You're mean." She whispered softly. "But I love you." The smile reappeared on her face._

"_I love you too." Nick poked her stomach._

"_Hey! No poking!" Miley giggled and poked him back._

_Nick grasped her around the waist and swung her around, causing her to scream to let him down. "Lunch time, guys!" He heard Billy Ray scream from inside the house. _

"_I'm not hungry, are you?" Miley asked._

"_Your dad just fed us pie. How does he expect us to eat now?" Nick chuckled and Miley shrugged._

"_Let's go to the park." Miley said simply._

"_That was random." Nick said with a chuckle._

"_I feel like going on the swings and you pushing me." Miley smiled and started walking toward her backdoor. "You coming or is this too much adventure for you?" Miley joked._

_Nick just stared at her, soaking in her features like he wasn't going to see her for a long time. Her brown wavy locks were cascading down her back; her blue eyes shining even brighter than usual now that she didn't have any make up caked on her natural complexion. She tilted her head a little and waited for his answer. "Let's go." Nick said, still admiring the beauty he called his best friend, but that's all they would ever be. Just best friends because he knew that no matter how much he loved her. She would only see him as a friend, a brother. Nothing more and it that hurt him a little deep inside._

"_What are you thinking about?" Miley asked as she stared at him._

'_You' Nick wanted to blurt out, but couldn't. "Just thinking about how beautiful it is today." He looked over at her._

"_I agree." Miley smiled as she looked up at the few white clouds floating around. "Ah, my eyes." She shrieked, pulling her hands over her eyes._

_Nick laughed, "You would stare at the sun."_

"_I wasn't staring at the sun… I was looking up at the sky and the sun suddenly came in and BAM! Sun in my eyes." Miley demonstrated with her usually hand effects and what not, causing Nick to laugh some more._

"_Whatever you say Miles." Nick placed an arm around Miley's shoulder as they continued to walk in the California heat toward the park. Both Nick and Miley were secretly trying to conceal a wide grin._

'_I wish I could tell him how I felt.' Miley thought sadly._

'_I wish I had the guts to tell her how I feel.' Nick thought at the same time._

'_I wish…'_

**a/n: Hmm, let's see what kind of feedback I get on this :o It's in no one's point of view now, but I'll see how good I am with writing it like that. As you can see. This is in flashback mode, but the real story takes place when they're 21, but I just wanna get out some information. So probably another chapter of when they're this age, then I'm going to fast forward a little (: REVIEW and tell me what you think :D Long or short ones are appreciated. Tell me what you really think. Sucky? Bad? Horrible? Awesome? Great? Thanks. :D**


	2. Sharing a Bed Together

**a/n: Reason why this story is rated M; There will be implied scenes throughout the story. References towards alcohol, drugs, etc. Profanity will be used in the story, but very minimal. Enjoy (:**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Twenty One

**Chapter Two**

_Sharing a Bed Together_

"_I'm burning up right now." Miley whined as she swiped the back of her hand over her forehead. "Dumb park why do you have to be so far."_

_Nick chuckled, "We can go buy some water when we reach and the store and stay in there, soaking up the air conditioning."_

"_Hurry, I might sweat to death." Miley joked as she grabbed Nick's hand and they started to jog toward the store. They both felt that unfamiliar tingle run through their fingertips._

"_We must look like idiots to those people passing by us in cars." Nick said as he watched a woman drive by, eyeing them weirdly. "She's been watching us like hawks. I'm scared." He laughed._

_Miley laughed along with him, "Must be a teacher. She has that weird glare… you know like the one Ms. Clark always gives us when we do something wrong."_

"_She only gives you that look, Mi…" Nick said._

"_Oh pish posh. Me. We. Same thing." Miley waved her hand at Nick._

_Nick shook his head. Miley could be so weird sometimes, but it's the little funny things she did that made him fall even more in love with her. They walked through the automatic sliding doors, both sighing in content; letting the cold hair fan their faces as they walked down the aisle. _

"_I feel better." Miley smiled as she passed the candy aisle._

"_Same here." Nick agreed as he grabbed two bottles of water from the mini soda fridge. "Do you want water or soda? Wait; forget I even asked you that…" He shut the door, handing a bottle to Miley._

"_What's wrong with me drinking soda?" Miley asked while they stood in line. _

"_Did you forget the last time? You nearly tore off a little kid's head at your cousin's birthday party. People were scared, me for example." Nick nodded his head with a serious expression on his face._

_Miley laughed, "That was one hell of a day. And that kid had it coming to him. He took my cookie and I had wanted that cookie for a long time. No one messes with me and my cookies." Miley glared at nothing._

"_And this is why you shouldn't get soda." Nick stepped forward as the line got shorter and they were inching closer to the cashier. "Soda only makes you crazier." Miley shot him a look, "Not saying that you're crazy to begin with…" He added._

"_Mm, nice save." They reached the front of the line._

"_2.13." The girl said while she smacked her chewing gum._

"_I'll pay." Miley said and took out a five dollar bill._

"_No, it's okay. I will." Nick stopped her and took out his own five._

"_Nick, just let me pay for the water." Miley argued as she tried to hand the girl the money. The girl was about to grab it out of Miley's hand, but Nick snatched it back before she could, handing him her five._

"_Have a nice day." The girl handed them the bottled water and rolled her eyes, thinking it was stupid for them to argue about paying over water. Teens were getting weirder and weirder each day._

"_Why couldn't you just let me pay?" Miley asked as they walked out of the store, immediately opening up her bottle, taking a long sip._

"_Because it was my idea to get water in the first place." Nick said, wanting to mentally knock himself on the forehead for coming up with such a lame excuse. Miley shrugged, not wanting to push this argument any farther._

_They crossed the street and walked into the park entrance. "I am so glad that the swings are in the shade." Miley said when they walked over to the swings. She sat down, but quickly stood back up._

"_What's wrong?" Nick asked, standing in front of his own swing._

"_The seat is hot." Miley looked behind her and saw the pinkness forming on the back of her thighs. "And I chose to wear shorts… smart, Miley. Very smart." Miley mumbled to herself._

"_Here, I have an idea." Nick said, tossing his water bottle over to her._

_Miley caught it, but it slipped, making it fall to the ground with a thud. She laughed and picked it up and looked over at Nick. 'Oh my god. What is he doing?' She asked herself when she saw Nick peeling his white t shirt over his head, revealing a white tank top underneath. Nick placed his shirt onto Miley's swing seat._

"_Okay, now you can sit." Nick said, grabbing his bottle out of her hands before taking a seat on his own swing._

_Miley just stood there, taking in the sight of his muscular arms. He had grown so much over the past year and she, of course noticed. He had been hanging out with his friends more, getting more active in sports. She tripped over her own feet as she walked over to the swing set. "Thanks." Miley mumbled, her cheeks flushed, both from the boiling sun and the nervousness she felt in the pit of her stomach. 'Why did she feel this way?' She asked herself. She pushed her legs forward and backwards, making herself swing. She closed her eyes, letting the warm air hit her face._

_**I've**__** got sunshine on a cloudy day.  
When it's cold outside I've got the month of May.  
I guess you'd say  
What can make me feel this way?  
My girl (my girl, my girl)  
Talkin' 'bout my girl (my girl).**_

_Nick smiled to himself as the lyrics to Miley's favorite song ran through his brain. He looked over at her and watched as she swung higher and higher, a content smile playing on her face. He just sat there, wondering if he would ever be able to call her 'his' girl one day. Maybe one day, but he didn't want to get his hopes up. He knew Miley didn't feel that way toward him. He heard her feet skid against the asphalt, making her come to a complete halt._

"_Can you push me, Nick?" Miley asked softly. Nick got up from his seat and went to stand behind Miley, pushing her back gently. "I've got sunshine on a cloudy day…" Miley started to sing, making the both of them smile._

**- T W E N T Y O N E -**

_It had gotten too hot to be out at the park so they decided to just go back to Miley's house and stay in the air conditioned home for a while. Nick and Miley were now both seated at the end of Miley's queen size bed; an ipod in Nick's left hand and a softball in Miley's right. She was currently throwing it up in the air and catching it every once in awhile._

_Miley threw the ball in the air carelessly and closed her eyes, feeling the impact of the ball hitting her head a few seconds later. Her eyes shot open, a hand automatically reaching up to touch her head. "Ow." She rubbed her head softly and looked around for the softball._

_Nick chuckled, grabbing the ball from where it had rolled under her bed, his hand grabbing something else. He pulled it out, making sure Miley wasn't looking. In his hands was her diary, how he knew that? The words 'Miley's diary' were written on the top of it in her cursive penmanship. He stared at it and noticed that it was unlocked. He flipped it open to the first page, suddenly feeling a flood of guilt wash over him for invading her privacy. He shut the book and slid it underneath the bed, grabbing the ball._

"_Oh, you found it." Miley said, grabbing the ball out of his hands. She then threw it across her room. "It's evil." She told him when she saw him give her a confused look. "Oh, never mind. I'm not even going to bother to explain myself." She told him._

_Nick opened his mouth to say something, but got interrupted by his ring tone blaring up in his pants pocket. He took it out and placed it to his ear. "Hey, what's up?" He said casually._

"_Nick, its Selena. I wanted to know if you wanted to go to this party tonight…"_

"_No thanks." Nick told her before she could say anything else._

"_Come on. It's one party. Do you never go out or something? I always see Cody and Jake here and then you never ever show up. Live a little why won't you?" Selena said._

"_I already have other plans that I don't intend on breaking, but thanks for the invite, maybe next time." Nick told her._

_Selena grunts, "Like there will be a first time." She hung up the phone._

_Miley looked over at Nick, disappointed that he had already made plans and she was stuck at home with nothing to do on a Friday night. Jackson was out and her dad would be downstairs watching T.V. all night. She was going to be one bored 15 year old._

"_So, what are your plans?" Miley asked._

"_Hanging out with my best friend, what else would I be doing?" Nick asked matter-of-factly._

"_Ohh. Who was on the phone?" Miley asked._

"_Selena. She invited me to another party, but I declined." Nick smiled._

_Miley frowned, "You could've said yes and brought me along." She sat down on her bed._

_Nick soon sat down next to her, "If I remember correctly, earlier today we made a promise. At that promise takes place when we're 21." He stares at her._

"_What?" _

"_You sure don't look 21 to me." Nick said, making Miley roll her eyes._

"_Whatever." Miley sighed and laid back. "You always get invited. You should be happy. I never get an invite."_

"_I don't really care if I get invited or not. I'm always going to say to them." Nick said as he lay down too. "I don't see the big deal in going to one of these parties, Mi. I think you just want a taste of the high school scene."_

"_We're IN high school, Nick. Of course I want to see how it's like." Miley retorted. "Is it my fault that my curiosity always gets the best of me? Maybe, I just want to have a little fun. I mean we aren't going to be teenagers forever. Our time is ticking down by the second."_

"_I know that, but do you really think that getting drunk or high to the extent where you can't remember a single thing from the night before is fun?" Nick asked incredulously. "I think you were out in the sun too long."_

_Miley rolled her eyes in response, "You make it sound like I'm mental or something when I'm not. I just want to see how it's like. A little experimenting can't be that bad, can it?" She asked innocently and looked over at Nick, whose attention was up at her ceiling._

"_You may think that it's not that bad, but one little drink could lead to another and then another and soon you become an alcoholic or a heroine addict. Do you want that to happen to you?" Nick asked, still not turning to look at her._

"_Everything's negative through your eyes!" Miley muttered annoyed._

"_Negative?" Nick asked, turning to look at her. "Everything I say is negative?"_

"_I just said that didn't I?" Miley mocked._

"_Everything I say is REALITY. You don't even get the picture right now, do you? All you want to do is go out and party and what not. Well, too bad because I'm not letting you." He told her, turning back to look up at the ceiling._

"_Get off of my bed." Miley said as she stared to push Nick's arm, making no progress in pushing him off of the bed. "Get off." She said, punching him in the shoulder hard. "You're a big meany jerk face." _

"_Well, you're being a big baby." Nick shot back at her._

"_Ugh." Miley crossed her arms over her chest and turned over, not looking at him. She focused her attention on the closet door, admiring its craftsmanship at the moment. _

_They both knew that the two of them were acting beyond immature, but both were too stubborn to admit fault for anything. They just laid there in silence, listening to the ticks of Miley's pooh bear clock. Time seemed to speed on and soon, they were both dead asleep._

_Subconsciously, Miley could feel herself turn over and snuggle into Nick's chest, digging her nose deeper into his cotton white t shirt as she wrapped her arms around his torso, pressing her body against his before tangling their legs together. Thinking it was a dream, Nick held Miley's body closer to his, making sure there was no space in between them as their breathing evened and they fell into a soundly sleep, forgetting about their childish argument, a small smile forming on both teen's lips._

**- T W E N T Y O N E –**

_The soft chirpings of birds filled the room; a stream of light casting upon the two bodies. Miley yawned and opened her eyes groggily. She tried to get up, but felt a pair of arms wrapped tightly around her waist. She looked over and saw that it was Nick, still soundly asleep. 'Am I dreaming?' Miley asked herself. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and saw that Nick was still there. She pinched herself and yelped out a little in pain. "I'm not dreaming…" She whispered. "He probably doesn't know he wrapped his arms around me." She thought sadly before untangling Nick's arms from her waist. She got up with a sigh and dragged her feet towards the bathroom._

_Nick awoke from the sound of water running. He opened his eyes, getting blinded a little from the sun shining into the room. He looked around. "This isn't my room." He thought aloud, then sat up quickly. "I fell asleep in Miley's room?!" He whispered loudly and looked at the tousled sheets next to him, then to the bathroom door where the sound of water was coming from. 'This was nothing to freak out about.' He told himself. He was just sleeping… on Miley's bed… possibly with Miley._

"_Oh, you're up." Miley blushed as she walked out of the bathroom, her hair tied into a messy bun. "Did I wake you?" She asked._

"_Uhm, no. I just woke up." Nick said, wiping the sleep from his eyes. "I didn't know I slept over." He told her truthfully._

"_I didn't know either." Miley said sheepishly. "We must've just fallen asleep after our little argument."_

_Nick just nodded, still not believing what had happened. Sure, he had slept over at Miley's house many times before, but he was always across the hall in the guest room. He and Miley were rarely in her room to begin with. They were always down in the backyard or in the living room doing whatever. "I should probably call my dad before he pops his lid." Nick chuckled nervously as he shuffled to his feet._

"_O-okay." Miley stuttered and quickly tried to cover it up. "I'm just going to see if my dad's making breakfast or something." She rushed out of her room quickly and down the stairs._

_Forgetting about his phone call to his dad. He exited Miley's room the same way she had and walked down the stairs. "Mi—"_

"_Nick?" Billy Ray asked. "Why are you coming downstairs? How in sweet carnation did you get into the house?"_

_Miley's eyes went wide as she dropped the piece of bacon that she had in her hand onto the plate. "Uhh. I can explain." Nick said nervously._

"_He, uh, I saw him already coming over, so I just made him climb through my window." Miley stuttered, hoping her father would believe it._

"_Oh okay... wait, why are you wearing the same outfit you were yesterday? The both of you." Billy Ray said as he eyed the two teens. "Do you both know something I don't?"_

"_Nope!" The two of them piped in at the same time. "Nothing at all." They said at the same time again._

"_Hmm, okay…" Billy Ray said, letting it go. "Why sit down son and have some breakfast." He offered a big plate to Nick._

_Nick thanked him and took the plate, sliding into the seat next to Miley. He looked over at her and watched as she ate her breakfast slowly, her eyes concentrated on her plate. He two pancakes and placed them on his plate, ready to feed his hungry stomach._

_Miley shuffled her eggs around her plate, her fork making soft scratching noises. "Why aren't you eating, bud?" Billy Ray asked._

"_I'm not hungry anymore, can I be excused?" Miley asked._

"_Yeah, of course." Billy Ray answered as he sipped his coffee._

_Nick's eyes followed Miley as she left the kitchen, leaving to go up to her room. "Thanks for breakfast, Mr. Stewart." Nick said kindly._

"_It was my pleasure." Billy Ray smiled. "Now, you probably want to go upstairs after Miley, so you're excused." He chuckled as Nick got up, setting his plate into the sink._

_Nick tracked up the stairs slowly, wondering about what was on Miley's mind. He knocked softly on her door before walking in. Miley was laying face down, her head in her pillows. "You okay?" Nick asked as he walked toward the bed._

"_Yeah, just still kind of tired." Miley mumbled into the pillow._

"_Oh okay…" Nick said, not sure if he should sit down on the end of her bed or not. He stood there debating with himself for a minute before sitting down. "About last night…"_

"_What about it?" Miley asked, her heart rate speeding up a bit._

"_The argument we had was kind of childish don't you think?" Nick asked, avoiding the topic of them being asleep together in bed._

_Miley's stomach dropped a little, "Yeah, I agree." She flipped over and looked at him. "I was being a big baby." She sighed._

"_And I was being a big meany jerk face and I'm sorry." Nick apologized._

_Miley giggled getting a confused look from Nick, "It's just funny what I called you." Miley giggled again, soon getting into a fit of laughs._

"_You're so weird." Nick chuckled, glad that they had got over that awkward spot and were now back to being their normal selves. _

"_I may be weird, but you are weird as well." Miley said in a sing-song voice, still giggling._

"_Why are you laughing?" Nick chuckled again._

"_I don't know, everything's funny to me at the moment." Miley smiled._

_God, Nick loved that smile. It made him want to smile too, not one of those lip smiles he always gave to everyone, but an actual showing your teeth smile. Her smiles were just contagious._

"_Hey Nick?" Miley said._

"_Yeah?" Nick looked at her._

"_About that promise…" Miley started._

'_Man, she must've loved talking about this subject.' Nick thought to himself. "Yeah, what about it?" He asked._

"_Will you actually keep it?" Miley asked softly._

"_We'll see what the future brings." Nick told her with a shrug. "But don't worry it's definitely a maybe."_

"_Yes, and maybes can turn into no's." Miley told him._

"_Wow, now who's being the realistic one here?" Nick chuckled, getting an arm whack from Miley. "Geez, violent woman." He moved away from her._

"_I just want to know, Nick." Miley said in a serious tone._

"_When I make a promise, I usually come through with it, Mi. You have nothing to worry about you strange strange girl." He smiled at her._

_Miley stuck her tongue out at him, not caring if he was calling her names. It made her feel happy inside even if he was joking around with her. She wanted to so much, just to wrap her arms around him and hold him close, but he would probably get freaked out. She held in a sigh and smiled._

**a/n: Hello(: I just wanted to start off by saying that I am not Katy. It's Jenny :o If you have no idea why it's Jenny writing and not Katy writing. I think it would be a best idea to check that video link on my fanfiction page haha. Otherwise, HELLO PEOPLE :D This is my first official chapter that I've written for fanfiction and I think it came out pretty good (: Reviews are nice. Was it good? Bad? Okay? What was your fave part of the chapter? Long and short ones are appreciated. I'll probably get back to you as soon as possible.**

**Let's keep voting for Katy!**

**Best New Author; iluvjb4ever123.  
Best Niley & Best Story; Shy.  
Best Cliffhanger; Heavily Broken.**


	3. Surprise

**a/n: Reason why this story is rated M; There will be implied scenes throughout the story. References towards alcohol, drugs, etc. Profanity will be used in the story, but very minimal. Enjoy (:**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Twenty One

**Chapter Three**

_Surprise_

It was now three days shy of Miley's 21st birthday. She walked out of her Calculus class along with her best friend, Demi. "So, what are you planning to do on the big day?" Demi asked with a big grin as she hugged the books in her arms. She knew about the promise that Nick and Miley made when they were 15. Of course she knew, it was all Miley would talk about for the past two weeks.

"I don't know anymore." Miley said glumly. She was looking forward to spending the night with Nick, like he had promised, but something had popped up and he told her he had to cancel the night before when they were talking on webcam. Miley knew it must have been important because Nick rarely bailed out on plans and truth was, she kind of knew something would pop up.

Nick was currently schooling in Boston University and she was here in UCLA, she still was a little fuzzy on why Nick had chosen to go to college so far away. Not being able to see him daily, tore her up inside, but she managed being able to see him when he came down to see his dad on holidays.

Miley sighed inwardly and looked over at Demi sadly, "Nick had to cancel." She told her as they continued walking to their dormitory.

"Awh, Miles. I'm sorry." Demi told her friend sympathetically as they entered the elevator. She pressed the floor they were headed to and turned to Miley. "I'm pretty sure you and Nick could work this out and do a late birthday thing or something." She suggested, hoping it would make Miley feel a bit better.

Miley just sighed again, "I don't think so. We're in the middle of finals right now and he's probably busy studying or something… Or maybe he has a girlfriend and needs to spend time with her." Miley thought sadly as her mind filled with the thoughts of Nick having his arms wrapped around another girl.

"Miles." Demi said, snapping the brunette out of her thoughts. "If Nick had a girlfriend, don't you think he would've ran that by you by now? To see if you approved of her?" She asked.

"Yeah, but what if he had one and decided to hide it from me? He doesn't have to tell me every little detail about him, Dem." Miley thought.

"Okay, you need to stop talking." Demi laughed dryly, knowing about the massive crush that Miley had on Nick. "You're his best friend, he wouldn't do that and you know it, so stop saying that." She said, unlocking the door to their dorm.

"I guess you're right." Miley sighed, walking into their dorm room.

"Of course I am. I always am." Demi said cockily as she placed her book bag onto her bed, earning a pillow to the head from Miley. "Was that really necessary?" She asked, glaring over to the girl that was standing there, trying to look innocent.

"Of course." Miley laughed as she dropped her purse onto the floor. "You deserved it too."

Demi stuck her tongue out and rolled her eyes, "You need to grow up, Miles." She said.

"I need to grow up?" Miley gasped.

"I just said that." Demi giggled, pointing out the obvious. "No need to repeat it." She took the rubber band out of her hair and fluffed it a little.

"You're the one who just stuck your tongue out at me and you're telling me to grow up. Are you listening to yourself Miss Lovato?" Miley asked, crossing her arms.

"Need I remind you where I got that from?" Demi asked, arching up her eyebrow at Miley.

"Touché." Miley said, unfolding her arms and sat onto her bed cross-legged. "Did you know that means to touch in French?" She shrugged and suddenly her thoughts were filled with Nick again. She looks over at Demi, who's going through her pajamas drawer. "Do you think Nick's busy right now?" She asked as she played with a piece of her hair, waiting for Demi to turn around.

"Hmm, I don't know. Check. That boy is always online, so yeah, probably." Demi laughed, getting up and walking into the bathroom.

Miley rolled her eyes playfully, "You have issues!" Miley called out.

"Look who's talking!" Demi called back, making Miley laugh. She grabbed her laptop off of the side table, turning it on. She tapped her leg impatiently as she waited for the software to start up. As soon as she saw her homepage; she clicked onto AIM and waited as it signed her in. She saw Nick signed in and turned her webcam on and opened a new IM.

"_Hey best friend! :D" Miley typed in quickly, waiting for him to reply and turn his webcam on._

Soon on the corner of her screen, she saw Nick's face appear onto the screen.

"Hey Mi." Nick said softly with a smile.

"Hey Nick." She smiled back at him.

"What are you doing?" He asked, his attention more focused to something in his room then on her.

Miley tried not to let it get to her as she saw another person's hair. "Oh, uhm nothing. I just got out of class and now Demi's in the bathroom. You know her." She joked.

"Haha. Tell her I said hi whenever she comes out." Nick said, turning to look at the person seated on his bed.

"Oh, who's there with you?" Miley asked curiously, trying not to let the sound of her jealousy come through in her voice. Of course she was jealous, there was another girl sitting in the middle of Nick's room and she couldn't do anything about it because she knew he didn't like her like that and he was over 3,000 miles away.

"Oh, you don't know her." Nick replied smoothly, looking back to the screen. "Uhm, Mi. I need to go do something." He said, motioning behind him. "I'll talk to you later." He signed out quickly before she had a chance to reply back to him.

Miley shut her laptop off sadly as Demi walked out of the bathroom, dressed in her pajamas. "What's wrong, Mi?" She asked, taking a seat next to Miley.

"I just talked to Nick." Miley said quietly.

"That's great. Did he say hi?" Demi asked and Miley nodded. "I don't get it then." She said confused, "Why are you so sad? You're usually like super happy after you get off from talking to him."

"I was." Miley sighed. "But he had to go do something."

"Okay? What's wrong with that?" Demi asked, thinking Miley was going a bit overboard with the way her emotions were going. "I don't see a problem with him going to do something, Miles."

"He had a girl in his room, Dems. They're probably dating or something." Miley said sadly.

"You don't know that. They could be science partners for all we know." Demi said.

Miley shrugged again, trying to hold in all the hurt that she was feeling at the moment. "He wouldn't tell me who she was." She whispered. "All he said was that I didn't know her and that he had to go do something and signed off. What if... what if they're like sleeping with each other?" She asked quietly, turning to look at Demi, tears starting to cascade down her cheeks.

"Oh, Mi." Demi pulled her into a tight hug, letting Miley break down into her arms again. It seemed like a routine nowadays as Nick started to not call her back as much as he used to a few weeks away. It was eating Miley silently on the inside and even though she was in the denial, Demi noticed and it wasn't a good effect on her. "You can't jump to conclusions because you don't know what's really happening." She whispered into Miley's ear.

"I k-know, but I don't get why he didn't just introduce her to me. It just makes me feel like something's going on." Miley pulled away from the hug as Demi handed her a tissue. She grabbed it and wiped her runny nose.

Demi pushed Miley's hair behind her ear. "Maybe you should tell him how you feel."

"I can't. He doesn't feel the same way and it's just going to make everything weird between us and I don't want that to happen." Miley said softly, wiping her nose again.

"Yes, but what if he does like you back?" Demi asked. "Then, it would be perfect." She smiled a thin-lipped smile.

Miley shook her head again, "I'm not going to risk it, Dem."

Demi sighed, "But I just hate seeing you like this. It's not good for you to be like this Mi. Always being in denial, then breaking down a few days later. You never seem as happy as you used to be when I met you Freshman year." She said softly.

"I promise this won't happen again." Miley said.

"I know you're going to break it. You told me that a few months ago, then I heard you crying one night, but I kept my mouth shut about talking about it. I never knew a guy could make a girl feel like this, Mi, but apparently Nick succeeds. I'm not trying to make it sound like a bad thing, but you're just making yourself break more and more every time and I'm just trying to look out for you." Demi replied, rubbing Miley's back softly.

Miley brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them before setting her chin on top of them. "You want to know something?" She asked.

"What?" Demi asked quietly.

"I was planning on telling him how I felt when he came down for my birthday, but I guess he has more important things to do, then celebrate my 21st birthday with me." Miley said, her eyes sliding shut as more tears formed at the corners of her eyes. "And it just hurts more because he told me he would come through with this promise and he reminded me almost everyday when we were in high school and now college came and all of a sudden he has to break it."

Not knowing what else to say, Demi just continued to rub Miley's back soothingly, hoping that she would calm down and fall asleep.

**TwentyOneTwentyOneTwentyOne**

"Do you think it's a good idea?" Nick asked as he sat down next to the girl on his bed. He had been a nervous wreck for the past few weeks and he was having a hard time keeping his surprise from Miley. He soon befriended a dark-haired girl in his Physics class and before he knew it, they instantly bonded and now they were seated on his bed.

"Of course, she'll never know that you had this planned." The girl smiled. "It's perfect Nick, she'll definitely love it." She just stared at the nervous guy in front of her and giggled lightly. It was easy to read when he would be like this, just becoming friends a few weeks ago, they had practically became like brother and sister.

"You sure?" Nick asked again.

The girl giggled again at the look on Nick's face, "Yes Nick, I'm positive. You were always the one to over think something you were going to do." She nudged him a little and smiled. "I'm excited for you."

"I just hope she'll like it." Nick said nervously as he continued to play with the object in his hands. "This is a really big leap in the relationship that I have with her and I'm scared."

"Like, I said 5 times before. She'll love it." The girl reassured him. "You need to stop worrying your curly little head about it, Nick."

"Thanks Miki, for helping me plan this out." Nick smiled over at her. "It really means a lot to me."

"It's no problem, it was a pleasure to help, really." The girl draped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

Nick hugged her back tightly. "I hope Miley doesn't think anything's up. She saw that you were in the room, but I didn't really make it seem like you were." He said, getting a little queasy at the thought of Miley thinking that something was going on between him and his _sister_.

"I don't think so. From what you tell me, Miley doesn't get like that. Nick, seriously. Stop overreacting." Mikayla laughed. "Everything's going to go perfectly as planned. You just need to stop acting like this or you'll ruin it." Nick's eyes went wide. "I was kidding, Nick, don't make me slap you." She said, getting serious and a little annoyed with how Nick was reacting.

"Sorry. Just a bad habit." Nick mumbled before chuckling a little. "I'll try to stop." He sighed.

"Mhm, I noticed." Mikayla laughed. "How about you put it away before you lose it and we go get a bite to eat. I need to go back to my dorm and study." She pointed in her mouth and pretended to gag.

Nick laughed, placing the object back into his sock drawer to keep safe until later on. "It's not that bad. I know you'll pass finals." He told her as they walked out the door.

"Easy for you to say Mr. Straight A's." Mikayla sighed. "I have a B average and if I fail this, it's going to bring me down to a C and I really can't afford that right now. My dad said he'd get me a new car, but if I get a low grade bye-bye car." She pouted sadly.

"I do not have straight A's. Did you forget about the B I got on the Trig test?" Nick asked and Mikayla rolled her eyes at him. "And you just need to study. If you do plenty of that, you'll ace it. I'm sure." He told her confidently. "You'll get that car and then you'll have to drive me around because I was right." He laughed as he held the door open for her.

"If you say so Mr. Straight A's." She said as they entered the coffee shop.

"I don't really like that nickname." Nick said, taking a seat.

Mikayla slid in next to him looked over at him. "Well, like the one Miley gave you when you were younger, you're stuck with it." She smiled.

Nick just shook his head and chuckled at the girl next to him before turning his attention back to the menu in his hand. "What do you want? My treat." He told her as his eyes rolled up and down the menu.

"Oh, no. You are not paying for my food, Nick. Really, it's okay. I have a job, I can pay." Mikayla told him.

"Come on, Miki, please. It's the least I can do for all that you've put up for the past few weeks and helping me pick the thing out for Miley. Please." Nick looked over at her, jutting his bottom lip a little.

"Oh God. You act just like my little cousin." Mikayla sighed, defeated. "And like always, I give in to him. Fine Nick, you can pay for my food, but this is the last time. Got it?" She asked.

"Yes, got it. Now, what do you want?" Nick chuckled as he and Mikayla brought their attention back to the menus in their hand.

"Hmm, I think I'm going to order a cinnamon funnel cake. Want to share it with me?" Mikayla asked, setting the menu down. "And iced coffee."

"Sounds good to me." Nick said, setting his menu down as well.

**TwentyOneTwentyOneTwentyOne**

Miley sat there on her bed all alone in her dorm room after convincing Demi that she should go out with her boyfriend before finals got in the way of their schedules. She had been sitting there for the past hour now, just staring at the blank television screen trying to think of an excuse to why a girl was in Nick's room.

She knew that Demi would probably scold her if she saw her like this when she got back, but she just couldn't help, but let this get to her. She sighed before pushing herself off of her bed and towards the closet. She reached up and brought down a brightly colored box; she took the lid off and held something in her hands.

It was a picture of her and Nick, on the last day of their senior year. Big wide grins plastered on the duo's faces. She could remember clearly that it was one of the happiest moments of her life. Miley saw a tear drop onto the photo and she quickly wiped her eyes before more fell onto the photograph and ruined it. She just sat there, going through all the memories that they had stored in that box and sighed when she came to a letter than she didn't dare send to Nick.

She had written this letter the first day that they were separated, she was still here in LA and he was up in Boston. She sat down on day and just wrote out her true feelings onto a piece of paper, telling herself that she'd mail it to him one day, but never got the guts to. She sealed it in a white envelope and placed it in the box, where it had been hiding for the past 2 years and a half.

She ripped it open gently and took the piece of paper out and read it over slowly, sighing to herself again. "What am I doing to myself?" She got up and walked to where the window was. She sat at the sill and just looked outside, smiling when she saw Demi and her boyfriend down at the courtyard. Then, she frowned when she thought about how Demi was so lucky to have such a wonderful guy to love her, while she had no one to tell her that they loved her. She cursed herself silently for feeling sorry for herself.

"I'm pathetic." Miley muttered to herself. "Really pathetic." She sighed, getting up slowly from her seat. She walked over to the trash can by her bed and ripped up the letter, tearing it up to small scraps of paper before dumping the pieces of paper into the bin. She just stared at the papery mess in the plastic bag before sitting down on her bed.

**a/n: What do you think Nick's surprise is? Hate it? Like it? Love it? Review please. Tell me what your favorite part was. (: Mean ones are wanted as well, I want to see what I can improve on if you criticize the chapter haha. :D Working on another new story... watch out.**


	4. Phone Calls

**a/n: Reason why this story is rated M; There will be implied scenes throughout the story. References towards alcohol, drugs, etc. Profanity will be used in the story, but very minimal. Enjoy (:**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Twenty One

**Chapter Four**

_Phone Calls_

It was past midnight and Demi knew she would be in a big mess of trouble if Miley caught her sneaking back into the dorm room this late. Demi slipped her key into the hole and pushed the door open lightly, wincing a little every time she heard it creak. She was surprised to see that Miley had fallen asleep.

She took in a sigh of relief when suddenly Miley's lamp light came on. "Well, hello there." Demi chuckled nervously. "I thought you were sleeping." She slipped off her shoes, trying not to look up at Miley's intense gaze.

"I'm not going to yell at you." Miley said quietly; Demi could tell she was rolling her eyes.

That's when Demi's eyes shot up to look at her friend. "Are you okay?" She asked automatically.

Miley nodded, "Yeah, fine. How was your date with Joe?" She gave Demi a tight-lipped smile; she was happy for Demi, but it was just hard being happy for her. She caught Demi looking at her strangely, "Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked, confused.

Demi just studied Miley's features, trying to find if she was hiding something. She didn't find anything. Miley looked _okay?_ "Oh, no reason… Joe and I had a really fund time. He took me ice skating and it was so romantic." She sighed dreamily, taking a seat on her made bed. "It was so much fun, Mi."

Miley sat up crisscrossed on her bed and turned to Demi. "Oh my god, details. What else happened?" She smiled; the first actual smile that she had given anyone in a really long time. It surprised her a little, but she felt really happy for Demi.

Surprised by Miley's sudden happiness, she continued telling her about her wonderful night out. "He wanted to take me out on a drive, but he knew about the campus curfew, so he dropped me off in the parking lot 10 minutes ago." Demi bit her bottom lip. "I love him so much, Miley… like I never knew I'd fall for a guy like him. He makes me so happy." She beamed, but quickly stopped herself and looked over at Miley.

Miley had her thin arms wrapped around her knees, her chin leaning on top of them. "Why do you keep looking at me like that?" She laughed. "I'm so happy for you Dem. Joe's one lucky guy to have such an amazing girlfriend like you. Your guy's anniversary is next week isn't it?" She asked ignoring Demi's staring.

"Yeah, it is. Next Friday, but enough about me, what did you do?" Demi grabbed her pillow and hugged it as she waited for Miley to reply.

Miley shrugged, "You know the usual. When you were gone, I just took a small walk around the campus. Went to Starbucks and then saw Emily, so I was hanging out with her friends were a while and stuff." She mumbled.

"That was it?" Demi asked.

"Yeah, nothing else." Miley looked away, hoping Demi wouldn't push it.

"Oh, that sounds fun. Emily's really nice." Demi smiled, and then glanced down at the trash can, noticing something. "Hey, what is this?" She asked, reaching down to grab the trash bin.

"Uhm, it was my English homework." Miley panicked, grabbing the bin out of Demi's hands. "I messed up on it, so I ripped it up and threw it away, so that Mr. Walker wouldn't magically find it." She lied.

"Well, if you already ripped it up, why can't I see it?" Demi asked, grabbing the trash can back from Miley.

"Because since I already ripped it up, there's nothing to see." Miley pulled the trash bin back.

"Just give it to me." Demi pulled.

"I don't have to." The pair continued to fight for the possession of the bin. "Just give it, Demi!" Miley said, getting annoyed as they continued to argue.

"Why don't you just give it to me, huh?" Demi asked as she pulled hard, making Miley fall onto the floor, but her grasp was still firm on the bin. "We look like retards." She mumbled as she still continued to fight Miley for the bin.

"I don't really care." Miley then, grabbed a handful of the paper in the trash can and got up. "Ugh!" She threw her hands up in the air, frustrated. "There's nothing to see!"

"Apparently there was since you just grabbed a fistful of whatever was in the trash can!" Demi stood up as well. "What else were you doing when I was gone, Miley? Were you talking to Nick or something? Is that why you're suddenly so happy?" She asked.

"Nick doesn't always have to be the one to make me happy, you know!" Miley screamed. "And for your information, I was crying when you were gone. Crying! Happy?! I told you, okay. Now, get out of my fucking face!" She threw the scraps of paper in Demi's face, too furious to care or not.

Demi fumed, "You're such a drama queen!" She yelled, walking over to the bathroom. "I wish you were never my roommate!" She walked into bathroom and slammed the door.

"Well, I wish I wasn't yours either!" Miley yelled, trying to keep her voice even, knowing the waterworks would hit her any second. She sat down on her bed and grabbed her pillow. She put it over her mouth and screamed as loud as she could into it, letting out all her emotions. She began to cry, hot, angry wet tears. "I hate everything." She screamed, muffled by the pillow.

She and Demi had never got into an argument about so stupid before. It made her mad, but it made her feel so dumb that she was going to throw her friendship with her away over something like this. She heard the bathroom door open, but she kept the pillow over her head, not ready to say anything to the girl that she had called her best friend for the past three years.

"Miley…" Demi croaked softly; she had been crying as well. "Look, I'm sorry, but I think this was a stupid fight. I don't want to lose you as a friend over this. I should've just dropped it."

Miley took the pillow off her face and sat up, sighing. "I'm sorry too. I should've just told you what happened instead of acting like a complete mental person." She got up and hugged her tightly.

Demi hugged back and the tears began to spill out the pair's eyes. "I was just worried about you." She whispered into Miley's ear.

Miley pulled back, "I know." She gave Demi a weak smile. "I was just trying to stay positive for you, so that when you came back. I wouldn't have burst your happy bubble, but I guess my plan kind of back fired on me." She sighed again.

"Hey, you don't have to act happy when you don't want to be, Miles. I understand what you're going through and if you want to cry, just go on and cry. I may sound like I get annoyed and stuff, but I'm just trying to look out for you, but if you feel like you just need to, then I'll be right here by your side, crying with you if you want me to." Demi smiled. "I'm right here if you need me."

Miley smiled back at her, "Do you want to know what else I did?" She asked.

Demi nodded, glad that Miley was going to tell her. The two of them walked back over to Miley's bed and sat down. "What happened?"

"Well, when you and Joe were in the courtyard. I looked out and saw the two of you looking all lovey-dovey." Miley blushed. "And I kind of got really sad about it and I dug out this letter I wrote to Nick two years ago, but I never sent it to him. I read it and just got all worked about it again and I ripped it up and threw it away. Hence, the thing I didn't want you to find out." She said in one really long breath.

"Are you okay?" Demi asked, concerned.

"Yeah, surprisingly, I am." Miley reassured her. "I just don't know how to feel anymore. I'm happy, but then I'm sad. I'm just flat out confused." I laughed.

"Well, maybe you should sleep on it. Tomorrow's Saturday, I could call Joe and ask if he could give us a ride to the nearest mall or something." Demi stifled in a yawn.

"Sounds good to me." Miley gave her a tired smile. "Go get ready for bed. It looks like you could fall back onto the floor." She giggled.

"I know." Demi said, already half-asleep. "Night Miles." She got up.

"Night." Miley said tiredly and got underneath her covers and within a few seconds of her head hitting the pillow, she fell into a deep slumber even though she could hear Demi rummaging around the room.

**

The sudden bright light from the sun shined in through the curtains and the two brunettes awoke, wiping the sleep from their eyes as they yawned. They turned to each other and burst into a fit of giggles.

"That was creepy." Miley laughed, getting up. "We woke up at the same time."

"I know right?" Demi giggled again before jumping out of bed. "I call shower!" She made a beeline toward the bathroom.

"Not fair!" Miley whined. "You always get to shower first."

"That's why you're supposed to call it right when you wake up." Demi stuck her tongue out and shut the door.

Miley mumbled incoherently to herself and walked over to the closet, flipping through the hangers of clothing. "Yuck… ew… ugly…" She continued flipping until she stopped at a plain white t shirt. "Hello friend." She pulled if off the hanger and threw it onto her bed. She kneeled down and picked up her pair of favorite jeans that she had thrown there a few nights before.

She brought it back over to her bed and laid down; knowing Demi would take forever in the bathroom. She decided to see if Nick was up or something. She seriously had a problem… She brought her laptop to life and waited—patiently this time for AIM to load up. Nick this time had IMed her first.

"_Smiles! :)" Nick typed in happily._

"_Hey…" Miley responded._

"_What's up?" Nick wanted to sound casual, but he was dying to know what was going on with Miley._

"_Nothing. Waiting for Demi to get out of the shower… like usual. ._. What about you?" Miley answered._

_Nick was confused. Was she mad at him or something? "I'm just waiting for my friend to show up, so we can go to Starbucks. (:"_

"_That's cool." Miley replied._

_Nick frowned; Miley never answered less than a sentence reply. Ever. "Yeah… I think that's her right now at the door. I'll talk to you later." He signed off quickly._

Miley sighed again. "He probably does have a girlfriend… Ugh, get over it Miley." She told herself, quickly shutting off the laptop. "I need to go for a walk." She scribbled a quick note for Demi and left it on the closet door, knowing she would spot it when she came out. She slipped on a pair of socks and tennis shoes before throwing her keys and phone into her pocket. She looked around, making sure she had everything she needed before dashing out the door.

Forgetting to bring her ipod, Miley just jogged around, listening to the sound of birds chirping and the slight breeze that was blowing against her face, making her shiver a little. She forgot how the temperature was getting colder and cursed herself for not bringing a sweater. She checked what time it was and decided to sit down and just watch the sky for a while.

She took a seat onto the semi damp grass and just propped her chin on top of her knees, enjoying the quietness and the fresh air that was blowing through her hair. She sat there, just thinking about stuff that she wished would've left her mind for an hour or two, but knew it would never be able to.

"Maybe it's just best to forget about Nick for a while and just be myself again…" She mumbled to herself.

**

Nick walked over to his door and answered it quickly.

"Hey Ni—" Before Mikayla could finish her greeting, Nick had pulled her inside. "Jeez, what's up?" She asked, straightening out her shirt.

"I think I should book my flight a little earlier than planned." Nick paced around his room, not even looking up at his guest.

Mikayla pushed some of Nick's clothes onto a chair and sat down on the messy bed, "Can I ask why?"

"Well, Miley acted a little weird on AIM today and I feel like I should get down there as soon as possible before I chicken out." Nick sighed, finally looking over at Mikayla.

"How was she acting weird and you can't chicken out, Nick!" Mikayla sighed. "You can't and I'm not going to let you chicken out."

"Well, she wasn't replying like how she normally does." Nick said sheepishly.

"Seriously Nick?" Mikayla gave him a look.

"What? She's never done that before. I think something's bothering her." Nick explained.

"Why can't you call her then?" Mikayla asked.

"Because I know she's not going to tell me over the phone." Nick replied.

"You don't know that." Mikayla reasoned. "You don't know until you've actually called her." She looked around for his phone. Spotting it on his desk, she got up and handed it to him. "Call her." She instructed.

Nick sighed before taking the phone out of Mikayla's hand. After dialing the number with ease, he walked out of the room to have more privacy. He wasn't embarrassed to talk on the phone in front of Mikayla, but he always had this weird phobia of not wanting people to watch him when he was speaking on the phone with something. It was weird ands he never really got why he was like that. He waited patiently as he listened to the ringing drone out and no one pick up. He was just about to pick up when he heard Miley's tired voice answer.

"Miles." Nick said, relieved to hear her voice.

"Sorry I'm not here right now, but if you would leave a message. I'll be gladly get back to you when I can. BEEP." Nick listened to the voicemail as it ended. He sighed and shut his phone before redialing another number. "Hello, I would like to buy a ticket to Los Angeles…"

Suddenly Mikayla's head popped out of his room, "Nick, what the hell do you think you're doing?! You're supposed to be talking to Miley not the person at the airport desk!" She said angrily.

Nick quickly finished buying his ticket before slowly turning to his fuming friend. "Well, she didn't pick up and I think it's better if I do fly down a bit sooner than planned, you know to practice what I'm going to do…" He answered nervously.

"If you think that's best, then okay. I can't change your mind about going when you planned on going." Mikayla sighed. "Get your ass in here and start packing, Gray." She smirked and went back into the room.

Nick shook his head and chuckled before re-entering his messy dorm room. He opened his mouth to say something, but thought otherwise and quickly shut his mouth before Mikayla noticed.

"You need to call me the moment she says yes, Nick." Mikayla beamed. "I wanna be able to like hear all her happy crying in the background." She giggled a little.

"IF she says yes, Miki." Nick said, stuffing clean t shirts into his bag. "I'm not sure if she would say yes."

"Oh, come on. You've known each other your whole lives. She's bound to have some feeling towards you, Nick. If she doesn't… no offense, but I think she's blind." Mikayla stated. "I mean you're a loving and caring man; if she says no to you, I think I might have to fly down and knock some sense into her as well…" She helped Nick pack as he shuffled into the bathroom.

"I know you wouldn't do that because if you did, I would never forgive you." Nick said aloud from the bathroom as he rummaged through the drawers for his things.

Mikayla rolled her eyes as Nick reappeared into the room, "I was just saying that on sarcastic terms. Do you really think I'd fly down to do that?" She asked.

"Sadly, yes, I know you would." Nick answered, throwing a few more things into the bag before zipping it up.

"Yeah, sadly, I would." Mikayla laughed. "But no worries. I wouldn't do that to the love of your life." She cooed as she pinched Nick's cheek.

Nick's cheeks reddened and he turned away from Mikayla to hide it, "Never do that again… Okay, I'm packed." He rubbed the back of his neck and sat down on his bed.

"Yeah and when is your flight exactly?" Mikayla asked as she tried to hide the laugh she was holding in.

"4 hours…" Nick answered.

"Smooth, Nick. Real smooth." Mikayla chuckled. "Now, you can take me out to Starbucks."

"Oh, yay." Nick said sarcastically before getting pulled out of the room by Mikayla. "You do know I'm not actually excited to take you to get Starbucks right?" He asked as they walked towards the elevator.

"Of course I know, but do you think I care?" Mikayla asked.

"Good point." They went through the same conversation every time they had gone out for Starbucks. He wondered if Mikayla had noticed and they were just having the conversation for fun or if she really didn't notice at all.

"Thinking too much again, Nick?" Mikayla asked when she pushed the elevator button for them to go down to the first floor.

"Yeah." Nick replied.

"Well, don't strain your brain about it. Seriously, Nick, everything will go as planned. I promise and this is one promise that I will keep." Mikayla told him.

"I know I know, but I'm just a person who worries a lot." Nick replied.

"No need to remind me, Nick. I figured out on my own." Mikayla patted Nick on the shoulder while looking at him with an overly caring look.

"You're scaring me." Nick tried to scoot away.

"Hey, I'm just working on talking more closely." Mikayla replied, her hand still on his shoulder.

"You've been watching that show again, haven't you?" Nick asked, peeling her hand off of him.

"Mhm. Grace is my favorite character!" Mikayla replied in a cheery voice.

"The thing I don't get is why you have to act like her when you told me that you would never be a doctor in your life." Nick said.

"Oh, you're right." Mikayla shrugged. "I changed my mind."

"You're weird." Nick told her.

"Well… your last name is Gray." Mikayla replied. They both stood there in silence for ten seconds before turning to each other; both wearing serious faces, they both busted out laughing.

"Okay, that… was the stupidest… minute of my life." Mikayla said between laughs.

"I know right? It was random too." Nick chuckled. "We're such weirdos."

**

Miley groggily got up from her spot that she had been sitting in and tiredly jogged her way back to her dorm. Maybe it was a bad idea that she had went on the jog when she could've spent the time in bed, cuddling with her pillow. She yawned and went into the room, not surprised that Demi hadn't left the bathroom yet. She walked over to where she left the note and threw it into the trash.

"Demi, hurry up!" Miley banged on the bathroom door loudly. "You've been in there for ages!"

"Hey, I came out and you weren't here." Demi swung the door open. "I just came in here to finish doing my make up." She defended.

"Well, my bad." Miley put her hands up. "Now out." She shooed Demi out of the bathroom.

"Someone's pushy." Demi called out.

"Well, someone's sweating and feels stinky." Miley replied.

"Okay, ew. Too much information." Demi wrinkled her nose up in disgust. She could hear Miley's laugh coming from the bathroom. She sat herself down on her bed and pulled out her phone, surprised to see that Joe hadn't sent her a morning text message like he always did.

She opened up a new message and typed in what she wanted to say before pressing the send button. She was just about to set her phone down when her phone vibrated. Thinking it was Joe, she was ready to get greeted by his message, but got disappointed when she saw it was a message from Miley.

Confused to why she was sending a message when she was just a room away, she opened it.

"_You left your nasty old socks in here _." – Miley_

"Oops? Haha, pick them up for me, will ya?" – Demi

"Hell no! If you think I'm going to pick them up, you must be crazy…" – Miley

"Just take your shower Miley :p and I'll get them after." – Demi

Fifteen minutes later, Miley exited out the shower with a towel around her body. "How could you forget your stanky socks?" She asked Demi as she walked over to her bed where she had put the outfit she was going to wear.

Demi shrugged, still looking at her phone. "I just forgot to."

Miley quickly slipped on a fresh pair of bra and panties before looking over at Demi, "Hey, what's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing…" Demi sighed. "Do you think it's alright if we just walk to the mall by the campus instead of going to the other one?"

"Yeah, of course. Joe can't take us or something?" Miley asked as she pulled her favorite pair of jeans over her lean legs and slipped into her t shirt.

"I don't know. He isn't answering any of my calls or texts, Mi." Demi replied.

Miley walked over to Demi and draped her arms around her shoulder. "Maybe he's still sleeping? Come on, he'll call you later." She pulled Demi up from her seat. "Today's a happy day, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember." Demi tried to reply happily, but failed to.

"Come on… I'm supposed to be the negative depressed one and you're supposed to be the happy cheery one." Miley tried, but got no response from Demi. "Demi." She shook her arm a little. "He's going to call you back. Remember, he loves you."

Just then, the ring tone that Demi had set for Joe rang throughout the room. "It's him!" Demi said happily before answering.

Miley rolled her eyes playfully and gave Demi a small shove, "Told you so." Demi stuck her tongue out to Miley and took a seat down on her bed, continuing to talk to her boyfriend.

Miley took her own phone out of the purse she had placed it in, surprised to see a missed call from Nick. She checked when he called and saw that it was when she was sitting down. She quickly called him back, wondering why he had called in the first place when they had spoke to each other on AIM 15 minutes before that.

"Hello?" That wasn't Nick's voice… "Hello?" They repeated.

"Is Nick there?" Miley swallowed the lump in her throat. He did have a girlfriend. It didn't hurt as much as she thought it would, but it still did. Why didn't he tell her? Why didn't he even give her a sign or something that he had one?

There was some shuffling before Nick's voice filled the speaker. "Miles…"

"So, who's the lucky girl?" She didn't mean for that question to come off as bitter, but she was just frustrated and confused and it just came out the way it did.

**a/n: I had really bad writer's block when it came to the Nick/Mikayla parts. Gah, they're just so hard to write... Yes, Jemi's in here and the story's going to pick up in the next chapter when Miley's birthday rolls around. Tune in… sorry for the wait. Next chapter will definetly be up when I get 15 reviews (: Thanks so much for all the nice reviews I received! :D**


	5. Hypnotizing

**a/n: Reason why this story is rated M; There will be implied scenes throughout the story. References towards alcohol, drugs, etc. Profanity will be used in the story, but very minimal. Enjoy (:**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Twenty One

**Chapter Five**

_Hypnotizing_

Nick was shocked by Miley's tone of voice; she sounded upset, _really _upset. "Who is who?" He asked, playing dumb.

"The girl who answered the phone. Who's your girlfriend?" Miley asked again. This time Demi's head shot up from where she was and watched Miley intently.

"Joe, uh, I'll call you back in ten minutes. I love you." Demi whispered and hung up.

"Oh, she's uhm, she's Mikayla." Nick replied lamely.

"What are you doing? I'm not your girlfriend!" Mikayla whispered yelled toward him.

"Shh." Nick told her. "I was planning on telling you earlier, but I didn't know how to." He replied, unsure to where he was taking this conversation now. He was lying to his best friend. He _never_ lied to her. He just hoped she bought it, but for some reason he didn't exactly know why he was lying to her in the first place…

"Oh." Miley's voice began to break, but she cleared her throat quickly. "Well, I'm happy for the two of you. I, uh, I gotta go. Dem and I are going shopping. I guess I'll talk to you later or something." She quickly hung up.

"Miles…" Demi started, but quickly went over to Miley and hugged her. "I'm so sorry."

"I'm not sad…" Miley answered and Demi pulled back to look at her.

"You aren't?" Demi asked surprised.

"I mean I'm hurt, but I was thinking a lot during my jog and if Nick can't even admit to me that he has a girlfriend… who knows what else he could be hiding from me. I mean, we live thousands of miles apart. I don't really see Nick and I having a future together anymore anyways. I think I need to move on." Miley told Demi, but it seemed like she was trying to convince herself more.

"You got all that from a 20 minute jog?" Demi asked and raised her eyebrow a little. "I don't really know what to say…"

"You don't have to say anything." Miley grabbed her bag and walked over to the door. "Are you just going to stand there or are you going to come with me to the mall? I need a new outfit for when we go out on my birthday." She smiled toward Demi.

"Psh, of course I'm coming." Demi laughed and grabbed her stuff before walking to the door. "So, where exactly are we going for your birthday?" She asked when Miley closed the door.

"I don't really know. I thought you would suggest something." Miley laughed.

"I know you're not into the whole party scene and what not, but the other night when Joe and I were driving around... I saw that they had opened up another club a few blocks down from UCLA. Even though Nick broke his promise on taking you out, how about Joe and I take you out instead for your birthday?" Demi suggested with a nudge.

"You two probably already have something planned for that night anyways. It's okay. I'll just go out by myself or with Emily or something." Miley argued. "I don't want to be a damper on your and Joe's plans."

Kind of disappointed that for the past few days Miley has been getting closer to Emily; Demi forces a smile, "Come on, Miles. You would never be a damper on our plans. I want to be with you on your birthday to celebrate the big day and I'm pretty sure that Joe wants to be there with you as well. I mean, it's the big twenty one, Miles." Demi reasoned.

"I know it's the big twenty one." Miley's voice went a little lower when she said her age. "You already know that I'm going to be complaining and stuff, so I just want to give you the option to bail out before I ruin plans that Joe has probably already set up for the two of you." She explained, hoping Demi would get the picture that she wanted to be alone on her birthday.

"I just don't get why you want to be alone on your birthday though, Mi. Wouldn't you rather be with friends to celebrate the big day?" Demi asked.

"I don't know… I just feel like being alone to celebrate. Not saying that I don't want to hang out with you and Joe on my birthday, but don't you get that I'm going to be like a third wheel or something on _my_ birthday, Dem? I'm just saying…" Miley sighed.

Demi frowned, "Miles, I never wanted to make it seem like you were going to be a third wheel. I was saying as like three friends going out for a drink for your birthday. That's all I'm trying to get out of this."

"Demi, can you just say you're going out with Joe on my birthday? Please?" Miley asked.

"But I... fine." Demi muttered, defeated. "But we're still going out for dinner before we separate with other plans. My treat and you can't argue anything about that because this conversation is done." She said quickly before Miley could say anything.

"Fine, but we'll see who grabs the check first." Miley smirked.

"Miles, it's your birthday! Of course I'm not going to let you pay and Joe isn't going to either. It's two against one, you have no chance. Ha!" Demi said triumphantly.

Miley laughed, "You know what I just noticed?"

"No, what?" Demi asked curiously.

"I noticed that you turn everything into a competition and when you know that you can't win... you bring Joe into the competition, so that I would lose which means that I'm better than you." Miley laughed.

Demi knew for a fact that Miley had made a point, but she wasn't going to admit that to Miley. "I have no idea what you're talking about." She answered as they stepped out into the chilly weather. "We need to go shopping for jackets or something." She wrapped her arms around herself and zipped her thin sweater up.

"Yeah, like I have enough money to buy a jacket right now, Dem. I don't get my paycheck for another month and with how the economy is… I think I'm okay with the one I have back upstairs." Miley replied.

"You call that thing a jacket?!" Demi scoffed. "Seriously, Mi, you've had that thing for such a long time. You really need to get a new one." She laughed. "And well, let's just say you'll thank me at your birthday dinner."

Miley's eyes went wide, "You didn't…"

Demi smiled, "Of course I did."

"Oh my gosh, Demi!" Miley pulled Demi into a tight embrace. "You're the bestest friend ever!"

"I know." Demi giggled cockily, "But it was nothing, really. I know how you were eyeing the one that they had displayed in the glass window at Urban Outfitters, so I decided to get you it before this snobby rich chick did. You should've seen the look on her face. Priceless."

Miley laughed, "You should've taken a picture of her face. I would've loved to see it." They walked up the crosswalk and waited for the light to turn green. "Demi?"

Demi turned to look at Miley as they started walking down the crosswalk, "Yeah Miles?" They turned a corner and walked down the busy streets of Los Angeles.

"I think you're a really amazing person, you know that right?" Miley said.

"Okay, this is coming out in a non-cocky way, okay?" Demi laughed. "Yeah, I know, but you're an even more amazing person, Mi." Demi smiled. "And I'm pretty sure half of our student body would agree with me and the reason why the other half wouldn't is because they probably don't know who you are, but if they did they would agree... You know what I mean right?"

Miley nodded and laughed before linking her arms with Demi as they walked into the upcoming Forever 21 store. "Oh my gosh, that dress looks gorgeous." She let go of Demi's arm and walked over to an elegant dress that they had displayed on a mannequin. "Too bad I don't have anywhere to where it to." She let go of the dress and looked over at Demi, who had a goofy grin on her face.

"You should so buy it." Demi said, looking for Miley's size.

"Why? I just told you that I have no where to wear it too…" Miley said, still a bit confused. "Demi." She pulled Demi back.

"Just because you don't have anywhere to wear it now, doesn't mean you won't later on in the future and I know for a fact when that time comes around, you're going to want a dress and this one isn't going to be here anymore." Demi gave Miley a look.

"You talk too much…" Miley said, grabbing the dress out of Demi's hand. "I guess you're right, I'm going to want to wear this one day and it's going to be gone…" She looked at the dress and smiled.

"Don't you dare think about changing your mind, Miles. I know you love the dress. I can tell by the way you're looking at it." Demi laughed.

Miley looked down at the price tag and her smile widened. "It's just 40 dollars." She handed the dress over to Demi and took out her wallet. "Are you serious?"

"What?" Demi asked.

"I don't know what happened to my money... I had a fifty in here left over from my past paycheck and not it's gone." Miley continued rummaging through her purse, checking every pocket and zipper just in case she placed it somewhere instead of her wallet.

Demi swallowed nervously and cleared her throat, "I might've borrowed fifty dollars from you a few days ago… I wanted to pay Joe back for the stuff he bought me and I was sort of short fifty dollars."

"Why couldn't you have just asked me, Demi?" Miley sighed and put her purse down. "I guess I can't get the dress now." She looked down sadly at the dress in Demi's hands.

"No, no. Just because you can't pay for it doesn't mean I can't." Demi handed the dress back over to Miley and pulled out her credit card. "My dad sent me it two days ago and I've been dying to use it." She smiled.

"Are you crazy? How are you going to pay off your credit card when you max it out today?" Miley asked.

"Who said I was going to max it out today…?" Demi asked and Miley gave her a look. "You're right… I'm going to max it out, but I'll think about that later. Right now, we're going on a shopping spree for new clothes and you can't say no, Miles. Please…" She jutted her bottom lip out and batted her eyelashes.

"You know that only works on Joe." Miley rolled her eyes.

"Yes, but I was hoping it would finally rub off on you. Pleeeeease Miles." Demi pleaded like a 5 year old girl. "I'm not going to stop bugging you until you say yes."

"Yeah, but you know how I feel about having other people buy me stuff. I have to pay them back." Miley sighed.

"Well, you can pay me back whenever… so, is that a yes?" Demi asked hopefully.

"Yes…" Miley mumbled.

"Yay!" Demi squealed and quickly started rummaging through clothes. Miley rolled her eyes and laughed at how immature Demi was acting before she joined her in looking for clothes. "God, this would look gorgeous on you." She held a shirt up to Miley. "Here, hold it." She threw it to Miley, who luckily caught it. "They should have shopping carts in here…"

**

Nick sighed and shut his phone before looking up at Mikayla, who was giving him a really mean look. "Look, before you say anything. I panicked and made something up…"

"Yeah, something really stupid!" Mikayla took off the beret she was wearing and hit Nick across the arm with it. "I wanted her to like me, not hate me now since her best friend was stupid enough to lie to her that he has a girlfriend when he's planning to propose to her in a matter of a few hours." She growled.

Everyone was now looking at the two of them; Nick's cheeks turned pink and he gave Mikayla a look. "Can you keep it down? I don't want the whole world to know about it." He spat at her. "And like I said, I panicked okay? I don't even know why I said it."

"How hard was it to say 'oh, she's my friend from class.'? Yeah, not that hard, Nick since you told her that we were a couple." Mikayla shook her head and took a sip from her coffee.

"Okay, I get it. I said something really stupid. Can we just stop talking about it now?" Nick asked, getting annoyed with how Mikayla was treating him. "There's no need to treat me like dirt because I'm pretty sure when I get there, I'm going to get the cold shoulder from her." He grabbed his cup firmly and took a sip.

"Sorry. I just sort of got caught off guard with what you said… Never in a million years would I think you would ever say that I was your girlfriend…" Mikayla took another sip from her drink and looked up at Nick. "And sorry for hitting you…" She grabbed her hat off of the table and put it back on her head, trying to fix it.

"It's okay… I don't blame you for your reaction." Nick took another sip and they just sat there in silence for a few minutes.

"You should probably head back up to your dorm to get your bags." Mikayla said glancing down at her watch to see what time it is. "Maybe you're plane could take off a little earlier than you planned." She stood up.

"Yeah, uhm, good idea." Nick said quietly, throwing his cup into the trash can before they walked out of Starbucks. "So, uhm, what are you going to do when I'm not here?" He stuffed his hands into his coat pockets, hoping they would give his fingers some warmth.

Mikayla shrugged and tried to move her hair out of her hair as they walked down the pathway back towards the dorm. "I'll most likely be studying the whole time and I'll probably fly back to Utah to see my parents for Thanksgiving." The wind started to pick up and started blowing more fiercely, causing Mikayla's hair to get blown in her face again. "Right now would've been a great time to have a clip handy." She laughed, trying to push her hair out of the way.

Nick stopped walking and grabbed onto Mikayla's arm, making her stop as well. He gently moved her hair out of her face and stared at her for a few seconds before they awkwardly stepped away from each other and start walking again. "Oh, that sounds like good plans. You should tell them hi for me or something."

"Uhm, yeah, I'll do that." Mikayla responded quietly as she thought about the moment that she and Nick just had. The thought of it brought a soft blush to her cheeks. She tried to shake the thought away. _She didn't like Nick. Of course she didn't. He was just her friend and she was just his friends. He was going to propose to Miley and they were going to be happy._ She felt sick to her stomach at the thought that she might have feelings towards Nick.

"Mikayala?" Nick called out.

Mikayla quickly snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Nick. "Huh?"

"You kind of zoned out on me." Nick chuckled. "Are you okay?"

"Uhm, yeah. I was just thinking about my mom's home-cooking. I really miss it and I couldn't help but think about it, since I'm going to get to eat it again in less than a week." Mikayla lied.

"Oh, then, why were you making a weird face?" Nick asked.

"I was?" Mikayla asked. "I mean, of course I was… I was also thinking about how my dad is after the dinner. He kind of just passes out on the couch with his belly showing and what not. It's not a pretty picture." She laughed nervously, hoping Nick would buy her lies. "Oh, look at the time. I think I should get to studying now before I know for sure that I will fail out of the class. Have a good flight, okay?" She smiled meekly at him.

"Awh, you can't put off studying for just a little while?" Nick asked, opening up his arms.

Mikayla stared at him, confused to what he was doing. "Uhh…"

"First you're going to ditch me to study and now I don't get a hug?" Nick asked as he lowered his arms a little and looked at her confused. "You sure you're okay, Miki?"

"Pfft. Of course." Mikayla answered and gave Nick a quick hug. "Call me when you get there." She quickly left the building, glad that the breeze was hitting her warm cheeks. "Ugh, what the hell is happening with me? I can't like Nick, I just can't…" She sighed and ran a hand through her extremely tangled hair.

-

Nick stood there confused to what had just happened. Why was Mikayla acting so weird? Was she still mad at him for what happened at Starbucks? He shook his head and quickly went up to his room, grabbing all of his bags, making sure that the ring was securely in his pocket before he exited.

He got into a cab and sat there, getting nervous about what could happen in a matter of 10 hours… He took in an intake of breath and looked out the window, his thoughts quickly getting replaced with thoughts of Miley. He smiled to himself, hoping that she would finally let him call her his girl.

**

Demi laughed as Miley struggled to unlock their dorm room door. "Here, let me help."

"No, you're going to make the two of us drop everything." Miley laughed as the two of them stood there, struggling to do such a simple task. Finally, after two minutes of battling with the door, they came up with a compromise to drop their bags and try to open the door. The two of them walked into the room and threw all of their belongings onto the bed.

"That was so tiring." Demi sighed, laying down on all of her stuff. "And this is really uncomfortable." She rolled over and onto the floor. "And that was really stupid."

Miley laughed, "come on, we don't have much time since you took an hour just to find something to wear tonight." She started rummaging through the bags and looked for the dress that she had bought for the dinner out with Joe and Demi.

"Hey, it's not my fault that everything you found looked great on you. There was something always wrong with the thing that I tried on and I'm just glad I found something." Demi pulled out the dress she had picked out.

"Joe won't be able to keep his eyes off of you." Miley told her.

"That's my point." Demi winked and walked into the bathroom.

Miley gasped, "Demi, what do you mean?!" She asked, then realized that Demi had walked into the bathroom. "Oh, come on. Can't you let me have the bathroom first for once?!" She laughed.

"Of course not!" Demi hollered out and laughed.

Miley rolled her eyes and stripped down to her bra and underwear when she heard someone knock on their door. Thinking it was the dorm advisor or something, she walked over to the door and opened it, surprised to see Joe standing in front of her in a suit with flowers in his hands.

"Uhm…" Joe stared down at the floor awkwardly. "Maybe I should've called first."

"Oh my god." Miley shut the door and looked frantically around the room for something to cover herself up. She saw Demi's robe on the floor and quickly put it on before opening the door again, her cheeks red with embarassement. "I'm really sorry about that… Uhm, please come in." Miley opened the door wider.

"I know we're doing the birthday dinner a day before your birthday and all, but I wanted to get you these." Joe said handing the bouquet of flowers over to Miley.

"Oh, thank you." Miley smiled and looked around for an empty vase of some sort. "It was nice of you to come alone by the way."

"Of course I'd come along. It's the big twenty first birthday, Miles." Joe chuckled.

"That's what Demi said." Miley laughed and set the flowers down into an empty glass cup. "Uhm, Demi just went into the bathroom." She pointed over to the door. "So, we might be waiting here a while until she comes back out." She chuckled. "Make yourself at home... do you want anything to drink?"

"Oh no, I'm good." Joe told her.

"Here, let me put some of this stuff away." Miley bent down and picked up some of the stuff from her bed to make room for Joe to sit down. "I'm just going to put this away… I'll be in the other room if you need anything." She blushed and quickly walked into the closet, dropping all of her bags onto the floor. She quickly took off the robe and looked around for her dress, remembering that she had left it outside on her bed next to Joe. "Crap…"

"Miley, who was at the—" Demi walked out, sporting a pair of black lace bra and panties. "Joe, what the hell?!" She screamed and grabbed the tablecloth off of one of the tables, trying to cover herself up. "When did you get here and where's Miley?"

Joe stood up, "Miley's in the closet and well, I thought the two of you would be finished now and we could drive over to the restaurant before it gets crowded, but I guess I should've called…"

"That would've been a good idea." Demi nodded and ran a hand through her hair.

Joe raised his eyebrows a little and walked over to her, "You look really hot right now." He smiled as he rested his hands around her waist.

"Oh, I do?" Demi smiled slyly and wrapped her arms around his neck, letting the table cloth fall off around her body. Joe kissed her softly on the cheek, slowly trailing down the base of her jaw. "Uh, Joe!" She pushed him off of her and picked up the table cloth to cover herself again when she saw Miley at the doorway of the closet, trying to suppress a giggle from coming out.

"Maybe I'll just wait down at the car for you too." Joe suggested before exiting the room quietly.

"You two looked pretty comfy." Miley gave Demi a look.

"I covered myself up!" Demi defended. "And I didn't expect him to be out here when I walked out. I was expecting my best friend, who seemed to disappear at the moment." She raised her eyebrow.

"Well, Joe saw two girls in their underwear tonight." Miley said embarrassed. "I was kinda getting undressed when he knocked on the door and I thought it was Kelly, but it ended up being Joe…, but I quickly covered myself up and he looked down…"

"Oh wow, Joe is sure one lucky boy tonight." Demi laughed.

"You're not mad?" Miley asked.

"Of course not. I mean it was an accident. I'm not mad at anyone." Demi reassured her.

"Oh, thank god. I mean, I was blushing like crazy… no one has seen me in my underwear except you and Ni—" Miley quickly stops talking.

"Me and who else?" A small grin was forming on Demi's lips.

"No one." Miley said quickly and walked over to her bed, picking up the dress and unzipping it.

"Nick has seen you in just your underwear and bra? When?" Demi pressed.

"It was just one time when we were 16… I was getting dressed and I guess my dad let him into the house and I forgot to lock my door, so he walked in and saw me…" Miley blushed. "And he's seen me in my bathing suit plenty of times. No big deal."

"Of course it's a big deal. I mean, yeah, it was like 5 years ago, but still. I find it really cute." Demi cooed.

"Just get dressed. Joe's waiting." Miley reminded in hopes for Demi to drop the subject.

"Fine fine, but we're going to talk about this later." Demi told her and retreated back into the bathroom to finish getting ready.

Miley sighed, thinking back to that one day.

_Miley had just gotten back from an afternoon run; after giving her dad a quick peck on the cheek, she rushed upstairs to change out of her sweaty clothes. She ran up to her room and closed the door, not caring if it was locked or not. She quickly peeled her shirt off of her body and kicked her shorts off, turning up the radio a little._

_She heard a faint ring from downstairs and thought whatever her dad was cooking was now done and ready. She danced around to the song on the radio and slowly rummaged through her closet for something to wear. She heard footsteps trudging upstairs and thought it would be her dad telling her to come down for dinner._

"_Miles, I—" That wasn't her dad's voice. Her voice whipped around quickly and she stared eye to eye with her best friend, Nick. _

_Nick's eyes trailed up her body slowly, taking in how she looked. When had Miley grown up so quickly? He remembered clearly when she was just a small, scrawny girl and now she had curves in all the right places, not that he was complaining about it… He quickly snapped himself out of the thoughts that shouldn't have been playing in his mind. _

"_I… your dad let me in." Nick blubbered as best as he could._

"_Oh, it's okay." Miley stood there awkwardly, trying to shield herself with her hands, but had no luck. "Uhm, I'll be right out."_

"_Right…" Nick said backing out of the room, accidentally hitting his back on the wall. "I-I'll just be downstairs." His eyes landed on her chest for a quick moment before he looked back up at her face. "I.. yeah.." He quickly exited out of the room, tripping on the rug in the hall along the way._

_Miley just stood there, trying to settle her heart down a little. What had just happened and why did she feel so happy about it? Maybe it was the way that Nick was staring at her that made her heart jump a little as it beat. She grabbed a t shirt and a pair of flannel shorts out of the closet and slipped into them. She fixed her hair as best as she could and walked out of the room and down the stairs to greet Nick and her dad…_

"Miley!" Demi threw a towel at her. "How many times do I have to call your name?" She laughed.

"Huh?" Miley asked.

"Hurry up and put on your dress, so we can go out to eat. You've been standing there staring off into space for the past minute. What are you thinking about that has you that deep into thought?" Demi asked.

"Oh, it's nothing. I was just remembering something." Miley slipped into the dress, letting it hug her body lovingly. "I just need to curl my hair a bit and then I'll be ready."

"Here, you can borrow my shoes." Demi pulled out a pair of heels and set them down on Miley's bed. "I'll be down in the car with Joe."

"Don't do anything you'll regret." Miley reminded her as she waited for the curler to heat up.

"Yeah, yeah mom." Demi answered and grabbed her purse. "Hurry up though."

"I'll go extra slow, just for you." Miley laughed. Demi rolled her eyes and walked out of the room. Miley brought the curler to her hair and put soft curls into it. Thinking, she looked as good as she could; she slipped on the shoes that Demi had recommended her in wearing. Stilettos? Since when had Demi own a pair of these and why did she want her to wear them?  
Not trying to think too much about it, she grabbed her purse and hurried down to Joe's car to see Joe and Demi in a really heated make out session.

She rolled her eyes and knocked on the window, "Can you guys stop kissing and open the door for me? We'll be late for the dinner." Just then, she noticed that she had walked up to the wrong car and apologized to the couple before she looked around for Joe's car.

"Why were you talking to Jennifer and her boyfriend?" Demi asked from behind.

Miley jumped and turned around, "Don't do that! And well, I sorta thought that she was you and Joe." She laughed lightly. "Where's his car anyways?"

"Right there…" Demi pointed to the car parked a few feet away from the car that Miley had walked up to. "I just went up to see what was taking so long, but then I saw you here talking to Jennifer." She laughed. "I can't believe that you thought that was me and Joe. I mean, we act nothing like them."

"Right… just come on." Miley grabbed Demi's arm and they walked as quickly as their heels could take them to Joe's car.

"What time were the reservations?" Demi asked when we were in the car.

"At 9 and its 8:45 right now. If we don't hurry up, they'll give our seats away." Joe told them as he exited the parking lot.

"How far are we from the restaurant?" Miley asked.

"About 20 minutes." Joe answered.

"You might want to step on it, babe." Demi told him.

"Well, I'm already over the speed limit by 10…" Joe looked over at Demi, who was giving him a look. "I guess I could speed up a little more…"

"Oh my god, Joe, my grandma would so beat you right now." Demi rolled her eyes. "We have 10 minutes to get there on time. Just speed up a little more."

"Do you want me to get a ticket or something?" Joe asked as he stepped on the gas a little more.

"Guys, there's really no need to argue right now. If we get there on time, great. If we don't, it's okay. We can always go somewhere else to eat." Miley told the couple, but they just ignored her. "Fine… don't listen to me."

**

After an hour of listening to Joe and Demi bicker about everything, Miley had gotten in a cab and got off at her dad's place. She rubbed her temples repeatedly, trying to get rid of the migraine that had just formed. She knew for a fact that later tonight when she got home, Demi would be complaining to her about Joe and there would be another restless night.

She walked up the steps of her house slowly, trying to take in the fact that she hadn't been here for a few months. Remembering how her dad had left a key under the mat, she picked it up and unlocked the door, letting herself in. She heard her father's soft snores coming from the couch and she walked up the stairs quietly and into her dad's room. She flicked the light on and closed the floor quietly, careful not to wake her dad up.

She looked around and saw the familiar cabinet that her dad had told her he kept his 'action' figures in there, but found out what was really in there when she was 11. It was where he hid his secret stash of wine, champagne, and other liquors. She opened the cabinet door, wincing as it squeaked loudly. She listened for any movement downstairs, but didn't hear any and continued to do what she was doing.

She took out a bottle of red wine and opened it, taking a small swig from it. She shook her head, not expecting the rush that it had just given her. "Wow." Her voice sounded hoarse and she quickly cleared her throat before putting that bottle back and taking out another. She read over the label carefully before giving up that she couldn't read the fancy name off the bottle. She brought the bottle to her lips and dipped her head back a little, letting the liquid rush down her, coating the back of her throat with a burning sensation.

-

Nick stepped out of the cab and looked up at his dad's house, then noticed that there was a light on at the Cyrus' household. He stared at the figure for a while, thinking it was Billy Ray, but saw that the person had long hair that was below their shoulders.

Curiosity got the better of him and he set his bags onto the porch and walked over to the Cyrus' home and looked up to get a better look, but couldn't see anything because of the curtains. He walked to the front door and turned the knob, much to his surprise it was unlocked and he walked in. He knew for a fact that it wasn't Billy Ray because he could hear him snoring loudly; he tiptoed up the stairs quietly, stopping almost instantly when he heard Billy Ray mumble something and roll over.

He let out the breath he was holding when he heard Billy Ray resume with sleeping. He continued up the stairs and saw the light coming from Billy Ray's room, confused he pushed the door open a little and saw Miley standing there, looking as breathtaking as ever.

Miley was swaying around the room with her eyes closed, stumbling every so often as she hummed along to a tune that's he didn't know the words to. Nick noticed something in her hand, it was one of her dad's wine bottles from his champagne cabinet. Nick frowned, disappointed that Miley had done this without him, but then remembered how he told her he had a girlfriend. He shook his head, more disappointed in himself now.

Nick cleared his throat, making Miley's eyes shoot open and stop swaying abruptly, making her stumble into her dad's lamp. Nick's arms were instantly wrapped around her body, making sure she didn't harm herself in any way. "Are you okay?" He asked as he looked over her body, swallowing a lump in his throat.

"Nick? W-when did you come back? Miley asked quietly, looking down.

"I-I came down to surprise you for your birthday, but I guess you wanted to celebrate without me…" Nick let go of her, making sure she was able to stand before stepping a few steps back.

"But you have a girlfriend." Miley choked out and looked up at him, tears glistening in her crystal blue orbs. "You told me you had one…"

Nick's finger ran along Miley's cheek, wiping away a tear that had fallen, "I know…" He whispered.

"Why would you lie to me, Nick? You never lied to me." Miley pushed his hand away. "I thought you were going to miss my birthday and everything. Why would you tell me that, then come here?" She asked angrily.

"I thought it would be a good surprise. I didn't mean for you to get upset about it…" Nick explained, hurt evident in his voice. "I-I'm sorry."

"Sorry isn't going to change anything, Nick…" Miley pushed past him and sat down on her father's bed, taking another long drink from the almost empty bottle.

"Miley, I think you've had enough." Nick tried to take the bottle from her.

Miley pushed him back, "I'll know when I have enough, Nick. Don't tell me what to do." She glared at him, taking the last drink from the bottle before putting it onto the side table.

"Are you trying to make yourself so drunk to the point where you can't remember anything?" Nick asked her.

"Maybe I am… maybe I'm not." Miley tried to stand up to look at him. "Why would you care anyways, Nick?"

"Of course, I'd care, Miley. How could you even say that?" Nick asked, trying to hide the hurt in his voice.

"Because you left me and went to Boston!" Miley slurred. "You never even told me the reason why, you didn't even tell me you sent an application to Boston! You just picked up and left. I was so lost without you, Nick. You promised me we'd be college buddies, but you broke that promise and then you broke another one when you told me you couldn't make it to my birthday." She hit him on the chest with all the strength that she could, which was not much.

"Miley, stop." Nick grasped onto her wrists and held them down onto her side.

"No! Let go of me!" Miley tried to pull her hands back, but Nick wouldn't let her. "You're a liar!" She said coldly into his face, not knowing that it was ripping Nick's heart into hundreds of pieces. "That's all you'll ever be. A big fat liar." She spat.

Nick let go of her wrists and stared at her, "I love you, Miley." He told her.

"There's another lie." Miley laughed harshly. Clearly, the alcohol had reached her brain and she wasn't hearing what Nick said clearly.

"A lie, Miles? I've loved you since I first saw you…" Nick told her.

"Then, why did you never tell me?" Miley asked.

"I was afraid to…" Nick answered. "But I'm not anymore." He walked up to her and cupped her face in his hands; he leaned in and kissed her lovingly, glad that after all these years, he was finally able to kiss her. "Please tell me you love me back…" He murmured into her ear when they parted.

**a/n: See, faster update (: I got flooded with ideas… that's why. I hope you guys are satisfied with this chapter because I really don't know when the next one will be up. School starts on Wednesday for me and let's just say someone was putting off their AP homework for the whole summer.. Gee, I wonder who that was lol xD Like it? Hate it? Love it? Criticize away... :)**


	6. Morning After

**a/n: This is when the M hits… wheeee. (: Lol.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Twenty One

**Chapter Six**

_Morning After_

"You love me?" Miley slurred, stumbling back as she took a seat on the bed. "I don't care that you love me, Nick." She snapped at him.

Nick stared at her, clearly hurt from what she just said. It was like a million needles were pricking at his heart at the moment and felt like it would burst out of his chest at any moment. Finally, after all these years he had worked up the courage to tell her how he felt, but now she didn't even care.

"You don't care?" He asked softly, gulping back a burning feeling in his throat.

Miley stared at him, her vision blurring up a little before her eyes. She shrugged her thin shoulders and threw up her arms. "You're just being so c-confusing." She hiccupped. "How do I-I even know that you really even mean it?" Tears pricked at her eyes, but she looked down, avoiding Nick's eyes. "How do I-I really know, Nick?" Her tone softened.

"Because I mean it when I said it. I love you Miley Ray Stewart… with all of my heart. You have to believe me…" Nick's voice softens as well as Miley refused to look up at him. "I love you." He repeated more confidently. He took a seat next to her and held her face in his hands, his thumbs grazing over her cheeks as he wiped her tears away.

Miley closed her eyes; she couldn't bare looking into Nick's eyes at the moment. It would only hurt herself even more if she did

It was killing Nick deep inside that Miley wasn't saying anything back to him; he was scared. _Did she not love him back? Were his worst fears becoming a reality?_ He did all he could do at the moment; he leaned down, pressing his lips hard onto hers again, hoping she would respond back to him.

Miley loved the feelings of Nick's lips on hers; after a few moments, she finally responded and started to kiss back, quickly deepening the kiss. Nick could taste the expensive wine on her lips as they continued their passionate lip lock.

Moments later, they were lying on the bed; hands intertwined in each other's hair as the kiss got fiercer as the time went by. Clothes started to shed away from the two bodies slowly. First their shirts, then the pants and now they were left in only their underwear.

Nick knew he shouldn't be doing this right now because he knew it would be taking advantage of her because she was too drunk to notice what they were doing. He wanted to stop himself from tasting her lips, but he just couldn't resist it any longer. He had waited so long and now he wasn't going to let this opportunity slip through his fingertips.

For the longest time, Nick had wanted Miley to be his first time, but he never thought he'd be lucky enough for it to happen. He had lost himself to a party girl back in Boston at one of the first college parties he went to. Oh, how he wanted to take that night back, for all it brought him was regret, not pleasure. He should've waited; he wished he could've just waited a bit longer.

He knew he was ruining the moment by thinking too much at that time; he watched as Miley stripped down to nothing, exposing her bare form to him. He took his time, admiring all the curves on her body that he had never noticed before, taking in how perfect she looked as she laid naked right in front of him. Right at that moment, he felt like he was the luckiest man on Earth. His hand ran over her smooth skin slowly, enjoying every moment of this.

Miley shook involuntarily under his touch, her breath getting more and more ragged as his hand traveled up and down her bare torso. Nick's hand was soon replaced by his lips and she groaned out in pleasure from the feel of his soft lips on her body, leaving tingles after his kisses. It was starting to drive her crazy how insanely slow he was going with his movements; she just wanted him so badly.

Nick's lips traveled up and down her stomach, leaving soft butterfly kisses all over it. His lips went up again and met hers in yet another passionate kiss. They separated and brought his lips to her ear where he left a soft kiss near her ear before he continued to travel down, his teeth grazing over her soft, smooth skin. He felt a sudden movement underneath him and looked at Miley, feeling her hands pulling down his boxers, then he felt her hand grasp around his manhood.

His breath got caught in his throat as Miley began to stroke him up and down slowly. His eyes slid close and a low groan escaped from his swollen lips, enjoying what Miley was doing to him. He put his hand down on hers, stopping what she was doing. He then, pinned her hands down to her side as Miley pushed her head back onto the pillows. He positioned himself over her and pushed into her gently, watching her face quickly contort in discomfort.

"Are you okay?" Nick asked, scared.

"Just keep going." Miley replied out of breath.

Nick quickly obliged to what Miley had told him and continued on with his actions, thrusting slowly in and out of her as he kissed her neck fiercely. Moans of pure ecstasy were roaming throughout the room from both of them as the two adults continued and were soon at their highest peaks, ready to release their inner joys. Sweat was building on the pair's bodies, glistening in the bright moonlight that was shedding into the now darkened room.

One final push, then Nick pulled out of Miley, immediately collapsing onto the soft comforter besides Miley. He noticed that her eyes were closed, but her chest was still heaving up and down from what they had just got done doing, then her breathing began to slow a little and she had fallen asleep. Nick just continued to lay there, watching how peaceful she looked and then it hit him. He knew that Miley wasn't going to remember any of this tomorrow morning and that he had taken just advantage of her when she was at such a vulnerable state.

He began to feel disgusted with himself for his actions, but he knew that what he did couldn't have been so wrong because it felt so right at the moment. He realized something else at the moment… during their entire arousal, those three words that he had wished so badly to leave Miley's lips never did. She never told him that she _loved_ him. His eyes began to darken with sadness. _What if this didn't really mean anything to her?_ Negative upon negative thoughts started running rapidly through his mind. He loved her with everything in him and he knew for a fact that if she didn't feel the same way; his heart would be torn into a million pieces.

Miley started to stir a little in her sleep and it alarmed Nick when he saw her hand searching for something. Her hand felt all over his chest and she subconsciously snuggled her face into it more. Nick heard her inhale deeply and relax again before falling into slumber. He slowly wrapped his naked body around hers and held her before sleep caught up to him and he fell asleep as well.

-*-

Demi stomped furiously up to her dorm room; she unlocked the door in a swift moment and threw her bag onto the floor before heaving herself onto her bed. Angry tears filled her dark make-uped eyes as she let her emotions get the best of her and she began crying uncontrollably. She sat there, the back of her hand swiping across her face every few seconds. She didn't care if her make-up was running or not, no one was there to see her anyways.

She wished Miley had stayed longer at dinner, so that she wouldn't have had to ride in the car with Joe after they had another stupid argument. She wished Miley was here right now with her, so that she could be comforted and loved at the moment, but she knew Miley had a lot on her mind and needed to clear some things. She just really needed a best friend at the moment, but no one was going to be there to answer her cries.

"2 years my fucking ass." Demi muttered bitterly as she took off the ring Joe had given her a few months back, throwing it across the room. "You rather choose a road trip over spending time with me." Her voice shook with hurt as another sob escaped her lips.

After Miley had left the restaurant, Joe had brought up the subject about going out of town for a few days with the guys. It ticked Demi off that Joe was oblivious to the fact that on that same day that he was leaving, it would be the two year mark of their relationship. She was dropping subtle hints, hoping that Joe would notice that she was upset with it, but he never got what she was trying to say. Frustrated, she started to yell at him…

"_Seriously Joe?" Demi asked in disbelief after a moment of silence._

"_What?" Joe asked, looking up from his plate of spaghetti. He was confused to why Demi's tone sounded so cold. They were just having a really good conversation._

"_Do you not know what next Wednesday is?" She asked._

"_Yeah… I told you, it's the day the guys and I are driving up to Oregon. I thought I just told you that." Joe scrapes his fork around as he swirls another forkful into his mouth._

_Demi rolled her eyes, "I can't believe you forgot, Joe." She seethed. "How could you fucking forget?!" She yelled at him._

_People in the restaurant were beginning to stare at the two of them, but both didn't quite seem to notice their little audience._

"_What the hell are you talking about Demi? And really? Do you need to yell at me? I'm tired of all your fucking mood swings lately. It's like I can't say anything without getting bitched at by you." Joe retorted._

"_I only bitch at you because you've been acting so stupid lately. Always going out with your friends and when I want to tag along, you never let me. It's always 'Oh, it's just the guys.' or 'Can't you just let me have a night alone.' I guess I'm less important to you than your friends are because apparently you're choosing to spend time with them instead of with me on OUR two year anniversary." Demi picked up her napkin and threw it at his face. "I don't even know you anymore, Joseph."_

_Joe cringed at his full name; a sudden rush of guilt running through his body. How in the world could he have forgotten the two year anniversary of the day Demi walked into his life? She was the best thing that could've happened to him and now one faulty mistake could cost him all of that. He got up, quickly going after her._

"_Demi, I'm sorry that I forgot." Joe tried._

"_Sorry doesn't cut it. Just take me home." Demi spat at him._

"_Demi—" Joe reached out to take her hand._

"_Don't fucking touch me." Demi scolded, pulling her hand away from him. "Now just take me home." She stood in front of his car with her arms crossed firmly in front of her chest. _

_Joe was gonna have to do more than just apologize to her. For one, it wasn't the first time he had forgotten about their anniversary. It was the fifth time and Demi was getting fed up with it. It was like he didn't care that they were together or not anymore. It was just him and his friends that overpowered everything else._

Demi sat there, wiping away more tears from her eyes as she saw her phone light up and Joe's name flashing across the screen. Automatically, her fingers pressed the ignore button, but soon her phone had lighted up again and she saw it was Joe once again. She didn't want to talk to him tonight. She didn't want to talk to him for the next few days for that matter. She needed time to herself and she was going to give that to herself. She switched her phone off, throwing it onto the table before slipping underneath her covers; still clothed in the dress she went to dinner with. Surprisingly, it was quite comfortable and once her head hit the pillows, she was knocked out cold with sleep.

--

Miley could feel the bright sun burning at her eyelids, instantly making her wake up. Her eyes squinted as she opened them. Her head was throbbing and she groaned in response, her head hitting something hard when she had leaned down again. Her eyes shot open again and she stared at someone's bare back in front of her. _She had a one night stand with someone?! In her father's bed?!_ She sat up simultaneously and continued to stare at the person's body in front of her.

"Oh my gosh." She grasped the covers firmly in her hands and pulled them over her bare body, feeling violated with whoever was there sleeping besides her. She looked over at the clock her dad had hung up on the wall, seeing that it was just past 8 and her dad wouldn't be waking up for another hour or two.

She silently thanked God before getting up, still holding onto the sheets before walking to the other side. Shock washed through her when she realized who it was. One part of her was so confused on how it was Nick, while the other half was overjoyed that it was Nick. When in the world had he come back to L.A. and when did the two of them even have sexual intercourse with each other…?

Miley racked her brain as best as she could, trying to find answers to all of the questions rummaging through her mind, but her thoughts were cut short when she heard the bed shift. Her head jerked back over to the bed and she saw Nick rubbing his eyes tiredly before their gazes locked and they stared at each other.

Nick was afraid of Miley's reaction; he sat up and looked around for something to cover himself up with. He spotted his boxers on the floor besides Miley's feet, but didn't want to get up and expose himself even more to a flushing Miley, so he just sat there, looking awkwardly away at everywhere, but at her face.

"What happened Nick?" Miley asked as she saw Nick eyeing something on the floor. "When did you even come back to L.A.?" She whispered.

"Last night." Nick managed to say. "We did something…"

Miley's eyes darted around the room, spotting the empty bottles of wine and tequila. "We were drunk and we slept with each other?" She murmured in disbelief as she looked at Nick.

Nick shook his head gently before standing up; Miley blushed instantly and averted her eyes away from him as she saw Nick pick up and slip his boxers back on. "You were drunk… I was sober…" He answered.

Miley froze and looked back at him with wide eyes. Nick started to walk up to her, but she stepped back, stopping him. "I-I need to process all of this." She stammered. "I-I…"

"I just want to know one thing, Miley." Nick whispered, not wanting to take another step forward.

"What is it?" Miley asked, almost inaudible.

"Do you love me?" Nick asked softly.

That was the last thing she had expected Nick to ask her at the moment. Of course she loved him, but she didn't know if she would tell him she did or not. She just stood there, acting dumbfounded. "Of course I love you, Nick. You're my best friend." She replied lamely.

Nick's heart dropped as the last sentence left her lips. _She only loved him like a friend._ Miley saw the disappointment play in Nick's eyes and suddenly felt guilty for lying to him. "I shouldn't have flown down here." He said quietly.

"Nick." Miley said urgently. "Why did you come down here? You told me you had other plans…" She swallowed down hard.

"I came down to surprise you for your birthday, Miley, but I guess when I tried to hide the surprise; you took it the wrong way because when I got here. You were already celebrating. _Alone._ I was going to keep my promise Miley. I hope you knew that I was actually going to go through with it." Nick said softly.

"Can you blame me for thinking that you wouldn't? It broke my heart when you told me that you were canceling your plans with me to go hang out with your friend that you won't even tell me what their name was." Miley shot back.

"Why would it matter who my friend was, Miley? It doesn't matter anyways because me coming down here was obviously a mistake because you don't even love me back." Nick spat back angrily.

"I thought you would tell me if—" Miley stopped midsentence as what Nick said finally hit her. "You told me that you loved me…?" She asked softly.

"It doesn't matter if I did or didn't." Nick answered.

"Yes it does, Nick." Miley countered with hurt by the tone he was giving her. "It makes everything matter."

"Why would it?" Nick asked.

"Because if you hadn't told me you loved me, I wouldn't have been able to admit that I love you too." Miley answered quietly.

"Don't play with my emotions anymore, Miley. It hurt enough the first time when you didn't say it to me last night and now you're just going to kid with me?" Nick asked, shaking his head.

"I'm not playing with your emotions any—" Her hand flew to her mouth and she jetted to the her father's bathroom, barely making it to the toilet bowl before the contents spilled out of her mouth. She coughed continuously as the alcohol left her system from last night and into the bowl.

Nick knelt down next to her, caressing her hair in his hands as he rubbed her back gently. "Are you okay, Mi?" He asked, listening to Miley struggle.

Miley shook her head and sat onto the floor. "I feel everything, but okay, Nick…" She coughed.

Nick was about to stand up to get Miley something to drink, but got pulled back down by Miley's cold hands. "Miley—"

"Don't leave me, Nick." Miley's eyes filled with tears. "It's been hard enough not being able to see you for the past few weeks. Please don't leave me." She hated sounding so vulnerable right now, but she couldn't help herself. Nick had told her that he loved her, but she couldn't even remember it and now that she's confessed that she loved him, he didn't believe her. All she could do was cry.

"Miles, don't cry." Nick sat down next to her and pulled her into his lap. "Who said I was going to leave you, Mi.?" He comforted her. "You know I hate it when you cry… especially if I'm the reason why you are." He murmured.

"I'm sorry." Miley whimpered.

"Don't be." Nick whispered back.

"I love you, Nick." Miley whispered onto his bare chest; she closed her eyes and just laid her head onto his chest, scared to look up or hear what Nick was going to say.

Nick could tell by the way Miley had said it, she had truly meant it and he could feel his heart flutter as he replayed the three words in his mind over and over again. He could sense Miley's breathing hitch a little as he put off saying those exact words back to her.

"I love you too." He whispered into her ear, feeling Miley shiver in his arms. "And I was stupid enough to never tell you before." He added.

With that, Miley looked up at the guy she had loved since she was a kid and new tears glistened in her eyes. Happy tears of course. Nick leaned in and kissed the tears away with his soft lips and closed his eyes, leaning his forehead upon Miley's.

"I thought you stopped crying." Nick whispered.

Miley, too had closed her eyes. "They're happy tears." Miley breathed onto his lips.

**a/n: Blaah. Omg, I'm sorry that I made you guys wait so long and I repaid you with such a crappy part D: Ugh, school's already a drag and it's only been two weeks and I'm in over my head with homework. I'm sorry, but maybe reviews will make me feel a tad bit better? (:**


	7. Body Control

**a/n: Enjooooy my loves! (:**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Twenty One

**Chapter Six**

_Body Control_

Miley felt Nick's warm lips press against her clammy forehead, quickly making her feel at ease. She sighed contently and relaxed even more in his arms.

"We should get dressed." Nick murmured quietly into Miley's ear, but neither of them made an attempt to move from the spot they were seated at. Nick opened his eyes slowly and looked down at Miley in his arms. "Mi?"

"Yes?" Miley responded softly.

"Are you okay?" Nick asked concerned.

"I'm fine… I just can't feel my legs right now." Miley blushed fiercely, not looking up at Nick. Nick chuckled lightly at how flushed Miley looked.

"Put your arms around my neck." Nick instructed and Miley obeyed. He stood up, scooping Miley up in his arms and they exited the bathroom. He set her down on the bed and looked around for their clothing; he picked up the scattered articles and handed Miley's to her.

"Thank you." Miley said quietly and blushed again. She uncovered herself from the blanket when she saw Nick turn away from her. She quickly pulled her panties up her sore legs and refastened her bra on before pulling her dress back onto her body, the fabric hugging onto her lovingly.

"Ready?" Nick asked.

Miley nodded, but forgot that he was still turned around. "Yeah." She said hoarsely and quickly cleared her throat. "I mean ready." She said again.

Nick turned around and walked over to where Miley was. "I should probably help hide the evidence that we were ever in here…" He walked around the room, pushing the empty bottles together before helping Miley stand up, so he could remake the bed.

Miley wrapped her arm around Nick's waist for support as they tiptoed quietly out of her dad's room and into her bedroom. "Uhm, just hide those in my closet. I don't think my dad looks in there." She said softly, closing her eyes as she rubbed her temples tiredly.

"Are you sure you're okay, Mi?" Nick asked worriedly. He helped her over to the bed and sat her down. "Do you need Tylenol or something? I can get it for you." He told her softly as he ran his hand through her hair.

Miley shook her head a little and opened her eyes. "I'll be fine." She replied barely audible. She knew that Nick wasn't going to buy that she was okay with how she was replying. "Really." She answered a little more confidently.

"No you aren't, Miley. You look anything but fine." Nick sighed and walked into her closet, discarding all the empty bottles behind piles of Miley's old clothing. He walked back into her room and saw her sprawled out across her bed; he quickly walked over to her, making sure if she was okay or not. "Miley?!"

Miley opened her eyes tiredly, "okay. Maybe I need some Tylenol… There's some in my bathroom cabinet." She hated feeling all needy, especially around Nick.

Nick nodded, immediately walking into her bathroom. He opened up the cabinet and went through each bottle until he saw the Tylenol one. He shook the bottle and nothing came out; he looked in the bottle and saw that it was empty. He picked up a bottle of Advil and shook it as well. It was also empty.

"She cleaned everything out…" He continued to go through all the bottles until he saw some painkillers in the back. He took two out and filled up a cup of water and retreated back into Miley's room. He walked over to her bedside and set the glass of water down.

"Mi." He shook her a little; he heard a groan escape her mouth and he helped her sit up a little.

"I'm tired." Miley mumbled onto his arm, her eyes still closed.

"I know you are, but you need to take these." He placed the two painkillers in her fragile hand and grabbed the glass of water.

Miley groggily placed the two pills in her mouth and took the cup from Nick, chugging down the glass of water, nearly choking back what she had just took in.

"Slow down, Miles." Nick whispered, taking the cup of water away from her and helped her lay back down on the bed. "I'm going to say hi to my dad really quick, okay?" He asked, but he already knew that she was out like a light. He placed a soft peck upon her temple and draped a thin blanket over her body; he fought away the intimate thoughts that were suddenly running through his mind and left her room without a sound.

He walked quietly down the stairs and saw Mr. Stewart still sound asleep on the couch; he let of the breath that he had been holding in and slipped through the door, shutting it quickly behind him before he walked across the lawn over to his house. He saw that his bags weren't there anymore and took the key underneath his mat and unlocked the door. He walked in and suddenly a frying pan was in front of his face, causing him to jump back with guard.

"Whoa dad, it's just me." He said, putting his hands up as he stared at his dad, who looked like he was about to swing the pan at his head.

"What happened son? I saw your bags here on the porch this morning, but I didn't even know you were flying down. I've been worrying for the past few hours because I thought someone attacked you and you were dead or something." Mr. Gray said all in one breath, lowering the frying pan.

"Dad, breathe." Nick said, displaying himself inhaling and exhaling. "I didn't think I would be gone that long, but I ended up being somewhere else for the night and I forgot my phone in the bags. I'm sorry for nearly giving you a heart attack dad." He apologized.

"It's okay son." Paul replied, walking back into the kitchen. "You hungry? I made some pancakes." He pointed a shaky finger toward the dinner table.

"Has your arthritis gotten worse, dad?" Nick asked as he took a seat at the table, looking back over to his dad at the counter.

"I'm old. What do you expect?" Mr. Gray chuckled. "I'm happy as long as I can get out of bed in the morning." He walked slowly over to the table and took a seat next to his son. "Now, where were you last night? With a girl maybe?" He asked perkily, making Nick nearly choke on his orange juice.

Nick cleared his throat quickly, earning an eyebrow raise from his father. "How've you been dad?" He asked, trying to get away from the subject.

"So, you were with a girl." Mr. Gray smiled. "What's her name?" He asked.

"Dad…" Nick groaned, stuffing a large piece of pancake into his mouth. "We've never really talked about stuff like this before…" He swallowed.

"Well, that was before I was getting extremely old and wanted to see grandchildren before I died." Paul answered. "Now just tell me her name, son."

"Miley." Nick answered simply and took another sip of his orange juice, his eyes lingering to look up at his father.

"Miley Stewart?" Mr. Gray questioned. "As in the girl you've been best friends with since the second she was born? The girl that's been living next to us for all these years?" He asked.

Nick nodded, "the one and only."

"It was about time something happened between the two of you." Mr. Gray chuckled, earning a confused glance from Nick.

"Huh?" Nick asked.

"It was obvious there was something there, Nick. The two of you were the only ones oblivious to each other's feelings. Her dad and I would always talk about it now that you guys left to college. Finally, the two of you came to your senses. So, how long have you guys been together?" Mr. Gray pressed, trying to get answers from Nick.

"We're not together yet…" Nick replied.

"Nick, what in the world are you waiting for?" Mr. Gray asked in astonishment. "Are you going to let her go?"

"No, of course not." Nick shook his head. "I'm just waiting for the right moment to ask her." His hand slipped into his front pocket and he took out the small, velvet box. "I'm waiting for the right moment to ask her to be my wife…" He smiled.

Mr. Gray stared in shock at the small box in front of him before his large, fragile hands grabbed the small box and he opened it. "Son, it's beautiful. I'm pretty sure that she's going to say yes to you in a heartbeat." He said breathlessly as he eyed the ring in the box. "This means I'll have grandchildren soon." He smiled widely.

"Dad…" Nick groaned. "She hasn't even said yes and I haven't even asked her yet." He chuckled.

"But you will soon, right?" Paul asked.

"I-I don't know yet." Nick answered unsurely. "A few things happened last night and I'm just going to wait until I know the moment is perfect…"

Mr. Gray reached over and placed his hand on Nick's broad shoulder; he smiled and gave Nick's shoulder a soft squeeze. "Make sure you bring her right over when she says yes." He chuckled.

Nick laughed and shook his head; he loved how his dad was reacting to this and placed another forkful of food into his mouth before answering. "Don't worry dad, I will." He smiled a little, thinking about how ecstatic he would be if Miley's answer was actually a yes.

**

Demi awoke to the warm, bright sunlight blinding through her plum window drapes; she rubbed the sleep away from her eyes and sat up. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and yawned before standing up, wobbling a little as she walked into the bathroom. She sneered at her reflection, seeing the lines of her bracelet across her left cheek from where she was sleeping on. Her hair was a mess and dry mascara was streaked down her cheeks from her tears she was crying last night.

"Ugly…" Demi shook her head at herself.

She turned the faucet on full blast and cupped her hands together, watching the water fill up in her palms before she brought her face down and splashed herself with the cold liquid, quickly getting a wake up call. She patted her face dry with a towel and grabbed a hair scrunchie from the drawer, throwing her hair into a messy bun before she began to scrub the dry make-up from her face; she brushed her teeth and wiped around the sink area before she exited the bathroom and sighed.

She looked over at Miley's empty bed, surprised that Miley still hadn't come home yet. She decided not to give her a call just in case she was still asleep; she awkwardly unzipped herself from her dress and threw it into the corner of the room, slipping on a fresh pair of sweats and a tank top. Today was going to be a lazy day; it had already been decided as of last night before she fell asleep.

She grabbed a gray sweater off of its hanger and slid it onto her body just in case it was chilly outside; she grabbed her keys and decided to leave her phone just in case Joe tried to call her again. She wasn't going to talk to him, not now. She left the dorm room and shut the door behind her, walking down the stairs and out the building and into the cool November air. She inhaled deeply and continued to make her way to Starbucks to greet the bagel that was currently calling her name. Her stomach growled as soon as she stepped through the doors and up to the cashier.

"How can I help you today?" A male with shaggy dark brown hair asked with a smile.

"Uhm, I'll have the cheese bagel and a caramel frap." Demi ordered and took out a ten from her wallet.

"Hey, it's on the house." The guy said quietly, making sure that no one else but them could hear him.

"Oh, wow. Thanks." Demi smiled.

"No problem." The male replied. "So, what's your name?" He asked a pen ready in his hand to write it onto her cup.

"Demi." Demi replied.

"Demi." The guy recited as he wrote it onto her cup. "Nice name." He complimented. "Your drink will be ready in a sec. Let me go get you your bagel." He handed the cup over to the person in front of the machine and made his way over to where the bagels were and grabbed the freshest one he saw and brought it back to the counter where Demi was. He grabbed a napkin, "here you go." He handed it over to her.

"Thanks." Demi took it in her hand and licked her lips slightly, but looked up to see the guy looking at her. "You know my name, so what's yours?" She asked, taking a big bite of the bagel.

"My name's Oliver." He told her with another grin.

"It's nice to meet you, Oliver." Demi put her hand out. Oliver shook it lightly and she saw that there was a line of people behind her. "Oh, I'm sorry for holding up the line." She flushed and stepped aside as the man behind her gave her a dirty look.

"Demi." Someone called out and dinged the bell. She walked over to pick up her drink, "if the drink isn't how you wanted it, bring it back and we'll make you a new one." The person smiled and she nodded.

"Thanks." Demi told them and grabbed the drink, slipping a straw into it before bringing it to her lips to take a sip. "Bye Ollie." She called out and saw him give her a small wave before she exited the shop, smiling to herself. "_He was cute."_ She thought to herself.

She took her time on the way back, finishing the rest of the bagel before she stepped foot back into the building. She continued to take sips from her drink as she walked up the stairs slowly, trying to clear her head of negative thoughts. Just then, Oliver's face flashed in her mind and she couldn't help, but smile at how hypnotizing his smile was. It was if she had never had a boyfriend named Joe Jonas.

She pushed the door open, the warm air fanning against her face. She felt better now that her stomach was filled with food. She threw herself onto the bed and switched on the television, ready for a movie day at home. She searched through the channels, trying to find something good to watch. "Ew gore. Yuck horror. Comedy yawn…" She continued to flip through the channels until she saw something that might've interested her. "Hmm… The Notebook."

She got up and ran to the mini fridge in the corner of the room and grabbed a few cans of Dr. Pepper out. She grabbed a bag of Doritos and a box of Chocolate Chip Delights and walked back over to her bed, placing the items of food around her, for when she was ready to pig out. She walked back over to where she had the food stored and grabbed a bag of popcorn out, sticking it in the microwave; she smiled a little when she heard the popping noise fill her ears.

"Maybe today can be a good day…" She whispered softly to herself.

Within a few minutes, she was back on her bed, staring at the television screen in front of her. Every few seconds, she'd stuff some popcorn or Doritos into her mouth. Then, she heard her ring tone blaring throughout the room, ruining the moment of the scene in the movie. She stretched over and grabbed her phone, reading the name on the screen. _Joe._

She rolled her eyes and pressed ignore, placing the phone decide her. Seconds later, her phone started blasting again and she pressed ignore once again. She was starting to get annoyed when her phone started to ring for the fifth time; she was not going to let him ruin the good day that was having; she shut off her phone and threw it onto the table, settling her attention back on the television.

"They're so blinded by love." She muttered harshly, stuffing more popcorn into her mouth.

There was a knock at the door and she quickly snapped her head toward the sound. She groaned and pushed herself off of the bed, "can't they just let me watch the freaking movie?" She swung the door open and saw her dorm advisor standing in front of her with a phone in her hand.

"For you." Her dorm advisor said, handing the device over to her.

Demi was confused, who would call her at the dorm number? "Hello?" She said into the phone.

"Please don't hang up on me, Demi. Just hear me out will you?" Joe said desperately. "I've been trying to reach you for the past few hours now. I'm pretty sure I've left you more than 30 voicemails. Please, I just want to hear your voice."

Demi just stood there with the phone at her ear, listening to the desperation in Joe's voice before she clicked the end button and handed the phone back over to her advisor. "If they call again, you can just not pick up." She said.

"Uh, okay." Her dorm advisor mustered out before Demi closed the door on her face.

Demi slowly slid down the back of the door and sighed, wrapping her arms around her head as she rested her chin atop of her knees, feeling like she had just hit rock bottom. She thought about how sorry Joe had sounded and how bitchy it was of her to had just hung up on him like that.

Silent tears began to cascade down her porcelain cheeks as she cried out her sorrows. She wanted to forgive him just like that, but she knew if she did that he would just go off and do it all over again. Forgetting more and more anniversaries that they would share together. She just couldn't take that pain anymore.

She felt so broken, so lost, so confused with what she would do next with their relationship. Her heart ached as she thought about the good and bad times that she and Joe had shared together. Thinking back to their first date, to the first kissed they shared together, to the first fight they had with each other, to their first break. Their love was like a roller coaster ride, but she knew as long as she was with him, she didn't mind being on that roller coaster, but now... Now, she wasn't so sure anymore. She hugged her legs even tighter and just sobbed. Oh, how difficult love had to be.

**

Nick stepped out of the steamy shower and wrapped a towel around his torso. He walked into his room and grabbed a clean dress shirt from his bag, slipping it onto his arms as he buttoned each button up. He put on a fresh pair of boxers and dug through his stuff until he saw a pair of light washed jeans. He pulled those over his legs and dried his curls with his towel before throwing it onto his bed.

He remembered how Miley had complained about how much gel had had gooped up in his hair when they were fourteen and ran just a dab of gel through his hair to make himself look a bit more presentable. He double-checked to make sure he looked okay before he grabbed the small box of his desk and slipped it back into his front pocket. Then, he remembered he didn't have any shoes on and made a u-turn back into his room.

He put on a fresh pair of socks and slipped on some converses before re-exiting his room. He walked down the stairs and saw his dad waiting for him patiently by the door. "Wish me luck, dad." He took in a deep breath.

"You're not going to need it, son." My. Gray told him with a smile. "Now go and get her." He patted Nick's back lightly.

Nick smiled and enveloped his dad in a tight embrace. "I should visit you more often."

"Yeah, you should." Mr. Gray answered and the two men laughed.

Nick walked back over to Miley's house and gave the door a light knock. Mr. Stewart opened the door, a bit surprised to see Nick. "Nick, what are you doing here?" He asked.

"I'm here to see Miley, if that's not a bother." Nick replied.

"See, she isn't feeling too well at the moment, but I'm pretty sure she'll be delighted to be seeing you in so long." Billy answered, oblivious to Nick and Miley's actions the night before.

"Thanks." Nick said as he stepped into the house. "It's been a while, Mr. Stewart."

"You got that right, boy. Where in the world have you been?" Billy chuckled.

"School has me under tight wraps now." Nick answered with a slight chuckle as well.

"Well, of course. School comes first." Billy nodded. "I'll be down here if the two of you need anything." He gave Nick a slight pat on the back and Nick knew that he knew.

"My dad said something didn't he?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, he did." Billy laughed.

Nick shook his head with a smile and made his way up the stairs to Miley's room. He softly knocked on her door before he walked in, seeing that she was still asleep. "Miles…" He whispered and saw her stir a little.

Miley woke up and saw Nick at her side, "w-what time is it?" She asked tiredly.

"About 7 p.m." Nick answered. "Are you feeling any better?" He asked.

"7 p.m.?! I slept through the whole day." Miley groaned and looked down at what she was wearing. "And now I ruined my dress." She sighed.

Nick chuckled at how Miley was reacting, "its okay, Mi. Nothing important happened today." He told her.

Miley just nodded, then looked down at what Nick was wearing. "Where are you going?" She asked glumly.

"Well, I was kind of hoping to take this really pretty girl out to dinner tonight, but her dad told me she wasn't feeling well at the moment, so I don't know… there might be a slight change in plans." Nick gave her a cheeky grin.

Miley quickly perked up when she found out it was her, "oh, really now?" She asked. "Well, I'm pretty sure this girl will find enough energy to get herself ready to go out. I mean you must've spent a long time trying to get this arranged." She played along.

"You got that right." Nick chuckled. "Do you think you'll be able to make it? We can always stay in."

"No no. I want to go out." Miley pushed the blankets off of herself and sat up weakly. "I'm going to look like such a mess though."

"No you won't." Nick pushed a piece of her hair behind her hair and smiled. "You're always going to look beautiful in my eyes."

Miley blushed and looked down, "thanks."

"You're welcome." Nick pecked her lightly on the forehead and took her hand, helping her get out of bed.

"Can you turn the shower on for me?" Miley asked and Nick nodded, letting go of her hand. Miley walked over to her closet and tried to find something suitable for the occasion and settled on a small, black strapless dress. She figured she could wear the same shoes she was wearing the night before. She grabbed clean bra and panties from her dresser and walked into the bathroom.

Forgetting that Nick was still in the bathroom, she began to undress herself. Slipping the dress off her body and working on taking off her bra. Nick turned around and saw Miley's exposed chest in front of him. His breath got caught in his throat as he stared at her; he didn't know if Miley knew if he was still in here or not, so he cleared his throat awkwardly and averted his eyes down to the carpet on the floor.

Miley's eyes widen as she heard Nick clear his voice; blushed quickly plastered across her cheeks as she attempted to cover herself, but knew it was no use. Nick had already seen everything last night, but she couldn't help but feel self-conscious. _What if he thought she was fat or something? _"Sorry. I forgot that you were still in here." She gulped.

"No, it wasn't your fault." Nick said, still staring down at the carpet. The two of them stood there awkwardly, the steam from the shower suddenly making the room really warm and moist. "I think I should go wait for you outside." He tried to make his way past her, but not without her body brushing against his hand. He got out of the room, the cool air fanning his heated face; he shut the door behind him and sighed.

Miley stood there with her back on the door and let out a big breath. She wanted to know why she kept getting into these kinds of situations with Nick. She pushed herself off of the door and peeled off her panties and stepped into the steaming shower, letting the hot droplets relax her muscles as she ran her hands through her tangled curls. She knew she was short on time and decided to take a quicker shower than how she usually did.

She wrapped the towel around herself and stepped out, careful not to slip on something. She dried her body as quickly as she could and put her bra and panties on. She slipped the small black dress onto her body, letting the fabric hug her curves lovingly.

She took the make-up bag that she always left in her drawer and took out her needed materials before she started to paint her blank canvas. Applying a little mascara to her eyelashes. She slid the eyeliner pencil along her bottom eyelash line lightly; she brushed a soft brown shade of eye shadow across her eyelids and ran a light pink color blush across her face, knowing she was going to be red anyways, so she didn't want to do a deeper color. She applied some clear lipgloss onto her lips and studied how she looked for a moment before throwing everything back into the bag and into the drawer.

She fixed her dress a little and dumped the dirty laundry into the hamper. She brushed through all the tangles and pulled out her curling iron. She plugged it in and put some mousse in her hair; she made sure the curling iron was hot enough before she started putting random curls throughout her hair. When she was finished, she tied her hair in a side pony tail and put the curling iron back under the sink and placed her hand on the doorknob, opening it slowly.

Nick quickly stood up to greet her, immediately getting stunned by how beautiful she looked. "How do I look?" Miley asked sheepishly.

"Beautiful." Nick whispered.

Miley blushed, "thanks." She looked back up and saw him staring at her again. "Did I mess up or something?" Her hand rose to touch her cheek.

"No no." Nick shook his head. "Sorry, I'm staring." Nick's cheeks flushed a little. "Ready to go?" He asked.

Miley nodded and grabbed a clutch from her dresser before standing beside Nick. Nick took her hand in his, hoping that it was okay. They walked out of her room and down the stairs. "You two have fun tonight." Billy smiled and gave Nick a wink.

Miley caught sight of it and turned to Nick with a puzzled expression, but knew he wasn't going to say anything until they were at their destination. After saying their goodbyes to her dad, they walked to the front and Nick took out the keys his dad had given him out of his pocket and unlocked his dad's car.

"You're not going to tell me where we're going if I ask, are you?" Miley asked softly as Nick helped her into the passenger seat.

"Nope." Nick smiled and shut the door, walking around the front to the driver's seat.

"Not even a little hint?" Miley asked.

"Hints ruin the surprise." Nick answered and put the key in the ignition.

"It won't." Miley tried.

Nick chuckled, "I'm not going to tell you, Mi."

"Please?" Miley tried again and looked over at him, giving him a small pout. Nick looked over at her, noticing how sexy she looked as she did that and tried his best not to lean in and just capture those plump lips in a passionate kiss. He turned his attention back to the front as he pulled away from the curb.

"I don't think so." Nick replied.

Miley sighed, but she wasn't going to give up so easily. She sat there quietly for the first few minutes of the car ride before she turned to look at Nick, who was concentrated on the road in front of them. She slowly placed her hand on the cup holder, wondering if Nick had noticed or not, but she didn't get a response, so she decided to move her hand even farther, landing on top of his thigh.

She looked up at him and saw his eyes flicker down to her hand for a quick second. She smiled a little and rubbed his knee, watching his response. Nick gulped a little, but kept his eyes on the road, trying to block out what Miley was doing.

Miley dragged her hand up and down his thigh slowly, waiting for him to do something, but continued to get nothing, so she decided to move her hand up a little as it landed on a certain body part. She saw Nick's eyes widen a little as he looked over at her. She gave him a small smirk and started to rub him gently, earning a small groan from him in response.

Nick's hand landed on hers, pulling it away from his _area._ "What are you doing?" He asked as he pulled onto the side of the road, finding it was difficult to keep his concentration on the road.

"Well, since you won't tell me where we're going. I decided it'd be fun to tempt you until we get there." Miley winked.

"If you keep doing this… I don't think we'll even make it to dinner." Nick stared into Miley's eyes and she could see how his was dark with lust.

"Then tell me." Miley said simply.

Nick shook his head and shut his eyes, "I don't want to ruin it."

"Okay, then, I get to tempt you." Miley answered and Nick's eyes shot open as Miley leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He felt tingles as she pulled away; he stared at her, wondering what she was going to do next. Miley let her hair out of the pony tail that she had tied it in and let her curls fan across her collarbone.

Nick did the best he could to push back the urge to just grab her and fuck the sense out of her right then and there, but he knew that they had to get to the restaurant because he was dying to ask her the big _question_. He tried to ignore the fact that Miley was seated next to him and pulled back onto the road. Miley watched him in disappointment as he rejected her, she felt sad that Nick didn't want her. She tied her hair back into the pony tail and looked out the window, her chin propped on her palm.

Fifteen minutes later, Nick parked his car in front of the small restaurant and looked over at Miley. "Miles." He placed a hand on her shoulder and she turned to look at him. "We're here." He told her and noticed the sad look in her eyes. "Are you okay?" He asked softly, only earning a nod from her.

Miley unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door, not waiting for Nick to do something this time. Nick watched as she walked up to the front of the restaurant; he sighed and unbuckled his own seatbelt. He locked the car as he walked away from it and walked up to her, "Mi…"

"What Nick?" Miley asked.

"I want to know what's wrong. Earlier you were different… and now you're all gloomy. What happened?" Nick sighed.

"Nothing. Let's just go eat dinner." Miley looked down at her heels and waited as Nick opened the door for her. She walked in, not looking up to him and stood there and waited for the waitress to seat them.

As soon as the waitress seated them, Nick grabbed onto Miley's hands, making her look up at him. "Did I do something?" He asked softly.

Miley shrugged, "it's more my fault than yours."

"What do you mean?" Nick asked.

"I was practically throwing myself at you like a child and you rejected me, so I feel really stupid for acting like that." Miley mumbled.

"You weren't acting like a child." Nick countered.

"It doesn't matter now." Miley pulled her hands away from him and picked up the menu, blocking her face from his as she read down the list of foods.

Nick sighed and picked up his own menu. His eyes lit up when he thought of the perfect idea; he quietly called the waiter over and whispered his request to him. The waiter and nodded and retreated into the kitchen to help get the surprise ready for Nick when the time was right.

"Miles…" Nick tried again to get her attention.

Miley lowered the menu down and looked over at Nick and saw him holding out a flower to her. She set the menu down onto the table and stared at him. "What's the flower for?" She asked.

"For you silly." Nick smiled and leaned forward, placing the flower into her hair. "You look beautiful." He murmured softly.

Miley smiled a little and touched the flower in her hair. "Working your charm again?" She asked.

"Maybe…" Nick smiled and grabbed onto her hands again. "I love you." He said softly, kissing her hands in the process.

**a/n: Note: Miley and Demi are going to be very bipolar during this… it's not going to be drastic, but their moods change very quickly xD So uhm, I think I owe you guys an apology… I've had time to write, but I've just been putting this off. Heck, I've been putting off the stories on my youtube, but now I'mma try to update more(: Omfg, I got the most reviews for this story on the last chapter. 30+ reviews! :O Omg, thank you guys so much! Keep reviewing please! **


	8. Division

**a/n: Enjooooy my loves! (: Excuse any grammar mistakes that I made… Argh, I can't notice everything xD haha.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Miley blushed and cast her eyes downward as she felt the redness plaster across her face, "you're so _corny_." She giggled.

That caused a light chuckle to leave Nick's lips, "I may be corny, but it got you to blush." He smiled when Miley's cheeks reddened even more making his smile widen even more.

"Are you two ready to order?" The waitress greeted, bursting the little bubble that Nick and Miley were in.

Miley simultaneously dropped Nick's hand from her grasp and picked the menu up again, "uhm can I ask what the special is for today?"

"The special for the lady and what can I get you?" The waitress turned towards Nick, ignoring the fact that Miley had asked a question instead of actually ordering.

"Uh, I'll take the same. Thanks." Nick grabbed both his and Miley's menus and handed it to the older woman without another word. Miley sat there with an emotionless look on her face, "what's wrong now?" Nick took a sip from his glass.

"You completely ignored what I was trying to say, but it's whatever." Miley picked up her glass and held it to her lips, but didn't take a drink. She just sat there and stared at Nick's impatient fingers that were tapping in rhythm on the table. "Why do you seem so nervous?"

"What?" Nick asked, caught off guard by her question.

Miley nodded towards his hand and set her glass back onto the table, "you only do that when you want to do something and it's bugging you that you can't or something. What's bugging you?" She wondered curiously.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Nick grabbed his cup again and accidentally spilled his drink all over himself. "Shit…" He attempted to dry himself off with his napkin.

Miley couldn't help but laugh at Nick's antics and stood up from her seat with her napkin, "here, let me try to help." She sat down onto his lap and dragged the red cloth along the front of Nick's shirt. "You were always so clumsy…"

Nick sighed, "No need to remind me. I already know…"

Miley laughed again, "its okay." She looked up and met his soft brown ones, quickly getting lost in them. The two of them could feel themselves inching closer and closer to each other's face when Miley suddenly snapped out of it and got up from Nick's lap. "I think I'm going to use the restroom." She told him lamely and took off towards the ladies' room.

Nick looked around awkwardly as all eyes were all on him; he cleared his throat awkwardly and raised his hand up, "waiter, could I get another glass of water?"

Miley pushed the door open and was glad to see that she was the only one in the room. She walked up to the gleaming mirror and turned the nicely polished faucet on, running her hands under the cold, refreshing water. She wanted so badly to splash herself in the face in hopes of cooling herself off, but she didn't want to risk ruining her make-up. She knew better to have put some of it in her purse, but that thought wasn't even running through her head at the time.

She set her hands on the counter and looked herself closely in the mirror, "what are you doing Miley?" She sighed. "You're only confusing yourself and Nick…" She stared at her reflection hard as she tried to get her thoughts straight. "He's just so confusing with what he wants…" She whispered to herself. She jumped suddenly when she heard a stall door open and an elderly woman walked out. They exchanged stares for a few seconds before Miley turned and exited the bathroom.

"Poor girl, already talking to herself at such a young age." The elderly woman shook her head side to side a little before walking up to the sink to wash her hands.

Miley took her time making it back to the table, pretending to find interest in the old oil paintings of fruits and vegetables that were hung around the restaurant. It fascinated her why Nick would bring her to such a fancy restaurant so far away. There wasn't something important that they were celebrating, was there? Did she forget an important event that had happened? She racked her brain more and tried to think of what it could be, but too soon she was already back at the table.

Nick was playing with his salad, swishing the small tomato back and forth on the plate when he saw Miley sit back down at the table, "are you okay?" He asked automatically and set his fork down.

"Yeah, I just had to go." Miley lied and picked up her fork, immediately sorting through the fresh greens on her face. She stuffed a forkful of salad into her mouth and caught Nick staring at her; she swallowed, "do I have dressing on my lip or something?"

Nick watched as Miley licked her lips in hopes of getting the dressing that wasn't there off. "Yeah, you got it." He said softly, dragging his eyes down to the plate of greens. Suddenly he didn't feel so hungry at the moment; the only thing he felt like doing was holding Miley in his arm and kissing her with everything in him.

"So, how's BSU?" Miley asked, trying to spark up a conversation.

"Good." Nick replied.

"That's good… are you getting good grades?" Miley continued to ask.

"Yep." Nick answered.

Miley's eyes flickered up to Nick's face, then down to her plate as she stabbed another forkful of lettuce and placed it into her mouth. She was getting frustrated with the fact that a few moments earlier they were talking and now he would only give her one word replies.

"What are you thinking about, Nick?" Miley asked finally, the quietness finally getting to her. "You seem really quiet all of a sudden."

_You._ Nick wanted to tell her, but chickened out and came up with something else. "Uhm, my friend." He blurted out and couldn't quite pinpoint why he had even said that.

"Oh." Miley replied mimicking Nick's earlier actions, "that's nice."

"What are you thinking about?" Nick asked.

"About whom this friend of yours is." Miley replied taking another bite before pushing the plate and fork away from her and looking up at Nick.

Nick brought his hand up to his neck and rubbed it nervously, "well what exactly do you want to know?" He asked.

Miley shrugged, "anything that you want to tell me." She gave him a smile, hoping it would encourage him a little.

_Think Nick think. You're supposed to be making this memorable not awkward. _"I don't really want to talk about her." He told her lamely.

"Uhm, okay…" Miley answered, confused to why he couldn't just tell her what the girl's name was.

"I kinda wanted to talk about you." Nick suggested and Miley shot him a confused glance.

"What about me?" Miley questioned.

"What have you been up to these past few days?" Nick asked.

_Moping around. _"The usual. I went to my classes, listened to Demi vent about what's been happening with her boyfriend Joe and cry." Her eyes quickly widened and her mouth flew to her mouth, hoping that maybe Nick hadn't heard the last part.

"_Crying?_" Nick's eyes went big, "why have you been crying?"

_Great, he heard me._ "I didn't say crying! I said…" Miley turned to the side, "flying, dying, lying. Man, I got nothing." She sighed softly and looked back up at Nick, who was wearing a wary expression on his face. "I failed my test, so I got a little too upset about it." She lied.

"Do you really think I'm going to believe that, Mi?" Nick asked.

_No, but I was kinda hoping you would. _"Okay fine, it's because I found out Demi's puppy died."

"Demi doesn't have a dog…"

"How do you know?" Miley asked.

"Because if she did, you would've mentioned to me a long time ago how cute was. Want to try again?" Nick smirked and Miley sighed.

"I don't know if I can tell you yet. I-I'm confused with how I'm feeling right now…" Miley told him.

Nick just looked at her for a few seconds before nodding, understanding that he wasn't going to be able to force it out of her… yet. "Let's change the subject… How are Joe and Demi anyways?" He asked.

"Well, they were fighting the night before—oh, my God." Miley's eyes went wide.

"What?" Nick asked, getting concerned.

"They were fighting and I didn't even call her today to see how she was doing. I'm such a horrible best friend, Nick. I need to call her right now and see if she's okay." Miley got up, but saw the pleading look on Nick's face and she sat back down in her seat. "That can wait though because you drove me all the way over here and I shouldn't just leave you like that again…" She babbled on in one breath.

"Miley, I love you and I want to marry you." Nick blurted out suddenly. _No. no. no. This wasn't how it was supposed to go!_

"What?" Miley asked in a breathless tone. She couldn't believe what she was hearing; she was positive that her ears were playing games with her. _Nick wanted to marry her?! Nick, the guy that had been best friends with her since ever wanted to marry her? The boy that she was madly in love with wanted to marry her?!_ "I-I… need some air right now." She got up from the table and walked out of the restaurant, the ringing of the bell from the door mocking Nick as he sat there, dumbfounded with Miley's reaction.

"Does that mean your answer was a no…?" Nick thought aloud and slumped back in his seat, sighing.

"The desert is ready sir." The waiter walked up to him grinning, "We're ready when you are." He told Nick, still smiling. It was like he wanted Nick to punch him in the face or something.

Nick just dropped his head into his hands and shook his head, "I'm so freaking stupid…"

Miley ran down the steps of the front of the restaurant and tripped over her shoes, making her fall down to her knees, the stumbles from the path skinning her knees right then. Tears of pain started to fill her eyes, but she pushed that to the back of her mind and pushed herself off of the floor and dusted her hands off before she started walking away, telling herself to push away the stinging pain that was coming from her knees.

She sat herself down at a bus stop two blocks away from the restaurant. She laid her legs across the bench and examined the damage that had happened to her knees. It wasn't that bad... nothing a few band-aids wouldn't be able to fix, but that was the least of her worries at the moment. "Nick wants to marry me…" She repeated to the quiet night air. "And I just ran out on him…." She slid her eyes shut and banged her fists against the steel bench.

A few moments later, she felt the blood rush through her hand and she held onto it closely to her chest, "why am I making this so complicated…? Obviously he loves me and I love him, but why…" She hung her head low and tears of frustration, anger, and confusion started to leak through her ocean blue orbs… "why…" She cried lightly.

Miley tried to control her breathing as her tears started to stop, but her breaths came out as wheezes and she held her chest. She closed her eyes tightly again, fresh hot tears running down her already tear-stained face. "Just stop, Miley…" She told herself as she swiped her hand across her face again. "Stop crying." She continued to coach herself, but it was doing nothing to help her.

She inhaled a deep breath and let it out shakily as she continued to breathe in and out; she tried to keep her thoughts on everything but Nick at the moment, knowing that she would burst into tears all over again if he came to thought. She looked beside her and noticed that she had left her purse at the table with Nick which meant that her phone was left there as well. Her eyes were getting glossy again and she fanned herself quickly to prevent them from coming out.

_Happy thoughts… Happy thoughts…_ She continued to tell herself.

"Miley." That familiar voice dragged her out of her _happy_ thoughts and she looked over at the dark figure approaching her, "a-are you okay?" They asked softly.

"Nick—" Miley's voice got stuck in her throat as she tried to speak out.

"Y-you're phone started ringing at dinner and I thought it was important, so I brought it out here for you." Nick said as he held the purse out to her. "I didn't check who it was…"

"T-thanks." Miley stammered and grabbed the purse out of his hands, not looking up to make contact with his eyes. She unzipped her purse and took out her phone, seeing that she had five missed calls from her father. "It was my dad… I should call him back, excuse me for a second." She stood up from the bus stop bench and began to walk away.

Nick nodded a little and took at seat at where Miley was originally sitting a few seconds earlier. He watched as she walked away from him and over to a quieter area, a few yards away from the bus stop bench. He took the box that was itching in his pocket out and opened it to look at the ring, "I was so sure that you would say yes…" He murmured softly as he held the small piece of jewelry between his thumb and index finger. "I was almost positive that you would…"

--

"Daddy?" Miley asked when she heard her dad answer on the other end.

"Hey darling." Billy Ray smiled, "so, when can I see that rock of yours?" He chuckled a little, thinking that Nick would have popped the question by now.

Miley felt her eyes get glazed over with tears again, "what?" Her voice cracked as she asked, trying to hide the fact that she was on the verge of tears.

"Miles, what's wrong?" Billy Ray asked, worried to why she sounded like she was about to cry.

"W-what did you mean, dad?" Miley asked.

"Hasn't Nick proposed to you yet?" Billy Ray wondered. "I mean it's been over an hour and a half since you two left the house and I was sorta expecting him to have asked by now."

Miley let out a soft whimper and held the phone tighter to her ear, "You knew about that?" She asked softly, her vision become even more clouded.

"Darling, I don't understand… What's going on?" Billy Ray questioned.

"I told him no, dad." Miley spluttered through her tears.

"What? Miles, why?" Billy Ray said astonished.

"I don't know…" Miley's chest heaved as she tried to engulf in some air, "I really don't know anymore." She shook her head as she held onto the phone, "it's just too much to take in right now."

Nick looked up from the diamond in his hand and glanced over at Miley, noticing that her face was drenched with fresh tears. He felt his heart hurt a little more, the fact that she had said no was behind him now and all he could think about was going over to where she was and comforting her, no matter how awkward it was going to be. He stood up slowly and just as he did, Miley turned and they locked eyes almost instantly. Blue boring into brown, Nick shot her a quick comforting smile, but Miley quickly turned away from him, not nearing the pain that she was instantly feeling.

Nick's smile faltered off of his face and he sighed, looking down at his feet. He noticed the small scratch on the side of his shoe, but soon his thoughts started screaming at him. _Suck it up, Nick…_ He looked back up at Miley again and saw that she had hung up the phone and was still crying. He finally decided that now would be a good time to see if she was okay and walked over to where she was, cautiously asking, "Hey, are you okay…?" He asked softly.

Miley nodded, continuing to wipe her eyes, "Just great." She muttered. "Absolutely great."

"Then, why are you crying silly?" Nick asked as he ran his fingertips across her face, flicking the tears away from her face. He never noticed how crying had made Miley look even more beautiful that before. With the light shining down from the moon and onto her face, she looked absolutely stunning and he couldn't help but stare at her at the beauty standing in front of him.

Miley averted her eyes downward, not even able to look at his face, "Nick, I—"

"I'm not mad, Mi." Nick reassured her sadly.

Miley's lips quivered a little. _Why did he have to use that nickname?_ She finally looked up at him and she could clearly see the sadness hiding deep within his soft chocolate brown eyes, "you don't have to lie to me because it broke my own heart." She said shakily.

Nick pursed his lips together, for a quick second he had forgot about how Miley was his best friend and could sense when he was lying, "yeah, I know." He answered truthfully. "But I didn't want to admit that." He said quietly.

Miley closed her eyes and breathed in slightly, "Nick?"

"Yeah, Mi?" Nick asked.

"Why so sudden, Nick?" Miley asked softly.

"It wasn't." Nick replied, "I had been planning this for the past few months now… and Mikayla's been helping me out with it…"

"Why couldn't you just tell me that instead of having me think that you had a girlfriend, Nick? It could've saved us all of this!" Miley's eyes got watery again, but she tried to keep herself together.

"Then, it would've ruined the surprise." Nick answered. "And I didn't really want that moment to be ruined, Mi. I wanted this to be really special for the both of us, knowing how you wanted your engagement to be the best moment of your life…"

"Stop it." Miley demanded.

"Stop what, Miles? What am I doing?" Nick asked.

"You're making me feel like a retard!" Miley yelled.

"Mi—"

"Don't call me that anymore."

"Miley—"

"Please, just take me home now." Miley asked.

"But, I—"

"Nick, please." Miley begged.

"Alright." Nick sighed, defeated. "Whatever you want..."

Miley wiped her eyes again and started walking back toward the restaurant, not noticing that Nick wasn't really trailing behind her. Nick stood there and ran his hand through his hair, tugging at the ends. Oh, how much he wanted to scream out into the quiet night right then.

Nick recomposed himself and started walking towards his car as well, seeing that Miley was already waiting for him on the passenger side. He unlocked his doors and they both slid in, getting greeted by the warmth. Conversation wasn't even an option during this car ride back home; Nick immediately turned the radio up as he pulled out of the parking lot of the restaurant, bobbing his head once and a while to the lyrics of the song. He wanted to so badly forget about how his perfect plan had been soiled into this mess. Miley, on the other hand was staring blankly out the window, trying to piece her thoughts back together.

"Miley." Nick called out to her.

Miley turned her head towards him, seeing him wear a worry expression, "what?" She asked quietly.

"Uhm, we're here." Nick nodded over to her house. Miley seemed a bit surprised, time had sure flown by, but that was probably because she had been zoning out in her thoughts.

"Oh, thanks for the ride." Miley unbuckled her seatbelt.

"Do you want me to walk you to the door?" Nick asked politely.

"If you want…" Miley whispered and opened the car door.

Nick slid out of his car and walked quickly behind Miley to keep up with her and soon they were standing at the step in front of her front door, "look, Mi—" He watched as Miley slid her eyes closed. "Can I come in, we need to talk about this." He pleaded.

"I thought we did back at the restaurant." Miley answered.

"You may have thought we did, but we didn't." Nick told her.

"Then talk." Miley opened her eyes again to look at him.

"I just want an answer." Nick sighed.

"I don't know."

"That isn't an answer, Miley. It's a yes or a no answer."

"I told you, Nick. I DON'T know." Miley repeated.

"How do you not know? Earlier this morning, you told me you loved me and then now you're not ready for a commitment or something? We've known each other our whole loves and I finally admitted that I was madly in love with you!" Nick yelled aggravated.

"That's the thing, Nick. We _just_ admitted our true feelings towards each other and you're already asking for my hand in marriage? I love you, yes I do, but this is all going way too fast to me to take in. I'm sorry, but no." Miley's voice cracked as she pushed opened her door and walked in, closing it on Nick's face before he could get another word out.

"Darling…" Billy Ray appeared in the doorway after hearing all the yelling come from outside.

"I think he hates me now." Miley cried as she ran into the older man's arms.

"Hun, that man would never hate you. Ever." Billy Ray reassured her and placed a soft kiss on the top of her head.

--

Nick took a step down and sat down at her porch, he ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. _Stupid. You're so fucking stupid._ He told himself. He dropped his head into his hands and let out an annoyed groan before he looked back up to stare at his car, "I'm not giving up, Miles." He said not really directed toward anyone. "I'm not…

**

Demi used the sleeve of her long black t shirt to wipe the tears away from her eyes. She sniffled a little and stood up, straightening her clothes up a little, even though she knew that it would do nothing to make herself look any better. She walked back over to her bed and sat down, staring down at her hands. She started to toy with the ring that Joe had given her a few months back and couldn't help but smile a sad smile, thinking back to the time that Joe had given it to her.

Flashback: _4 months ago…_

"_Dem, could you come in here for a second?" Joe called to her from the living room. He was smiling inside and out and he couldn't wait for her to receive the gift that he had been dying to give her for the past few days._

"_What is it?" Demi asked, peeking her head into the doorway to look at her boyfriend._

"_Come here." Joe motioned his hands over for her to sit down at the couch._

_Confused, Demi still walked into the living room anyways, "Joe, why did you call me here?" She giggled when she saw how giddy Joe's expression was. She happily sat down on his couch, "Soooo…" She urged. "What's up?"_

"_Well, I have a little surprise for you." Joe grinned as he held his little present to Demi behind his back. "Close your eyes, beautiful." He smiled._

"_Awh, come on." Demi smiled as her eyelids slipped closed, but she peeked one eye open._

"_A-a-ah. Come on, Dem. The faster you close your eyes, the faster you get to see what the surprise is." Joe told her._

"_Fine." Demi huffed, closing her eyes for real this time._

_Joe took a seat beside her and grabbed her hand, holding it in his. He lifted it up to his lips and gave it a small kiss, instantly smiling when he saw the returning smile appear on Demi's face. Then, he took the box that he had placed on the coffee table and took out the small ring, sliding it onto her finger gently. He grinned at how perfect it looked displaying on her ring finger._

"_You can open your eyes now." Joe told her._

_As soon as Demi's eyes shot open, they were almost instantly filling with tears, "Joe…" A few of the slid down her face and she didn't bother at the moment to wipe them away. There were more important things to think about._

"_It's my promise to you that one day we'll get married and then you'll be mine's forever." Joe smiled._

_Demi stared down at the ring sitting on her ring finger, "but we've only been dating for 8 months… Don't you think it's a little too soon to be making such big promises?" She questioned through her tears. She was beyond happy at the moment and couldn't help but smile at what Joe was doing._

"_I know you're going to be the one." Joe leaned in and kissed her with as much passion as he could put into that one kiss, "I'm sure of it." He whispered against her lips._

"_I love you." Demi replied as she stared at him with great intensity. "I love you so damn much." She pressed her lips to his again._

_Joe's chuckled filled the quiet room as they pulled away and both their chests heaved up and down from the kiss that they had shared a few moments before, "I love you too, Dems. Forever and always, I promise." He told her, soon recapturing her kiss in yet another intense kiss._

_End flashback._

Demi shook her head away from the memory and slipped the ring off of her finger and just held it in her palm when she suddenly heard a soft knock at the door. Thinking it was her dorm advisor again, she responded, "Just hang up on the guy, okay? He's no one important anyways." She said shakily.

Joe felt his heart tug a little, "but the guy's standing right here…" He responded lightly.

Demi's eyes widen and she slowly rose up, dragging her feet across the floor, "What are you doing here, Joe?" She tried to sound intimidating, but her voice came off as cracked and broken. The complete opposite of how she was trying to sound.

"Open the door and I'll tell you." Joe said softly.

Demi continued taking a few steps towards the door, "what good is it going to do for the either of us?" She asked.

"Please Demi… I'm really sorry. Just please open up please, I miss you." Joe said desperately.

Demi felt her heart clench a little more as she put her back to the door, "I can't." She said on the verge of tears.

"Why not?" Joe asked quietly.

"Because I know I'm going to get hurt all over again." She replied numbly as she slid down the door.

"You won't be the only one." Joe answered softly. "Please Demi… Please, I love you and I can't go on another minute knowing that you hate my guts."

Demi closed her eyes, the tears falling from her eyes, "Why do you have you make it so hard to be mad at you, Joe? Why?" She started crying. "Why can't you be a jerk and just walk away from me like all my past boyfriends have? Why Joe?"

"Demi… baby, please don't cry. Open the door." Joe urged.

Demi pulled herself sloppily up to her feet and turned the knob of the door, revealing a broken-hearted looking Joe dressed in gray sweats and a white t shirt, his hair was sticking up in all directions probably from him running his hand through it so much.

"Joe…" Demi mumbled sadly through her whimpering.

Joe walked over to Demi's broken stature and engulfed her in a tight embrace, "I'm so so sorry…" He whispered into her ear as he held her. "I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you like that. Never would I want to hurt you like that." He repeated it to her over and over again.

"I love you." Demi mustered out through her tears. "I love you so so much."

"I love you too." Joe held Demi's head back a little and stared at her tear-stained face. He brought his hand up to her face and gently wiped the water drops from her cheeks before leaning in and capturing her passionate, desperate, and loving kiss.

Demi parted from Joe and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, "I missed you."

"I missed you more." Joe smiled against her hair. "Now, please don't cry, love."

Demi smiled a little, "There are no more tears." She sniffled a little as she wiped her nose again with her sleeve.

"Good." Joe leaned in and gave her a quick peck. "What have you been doing all day?" He asked, pushing a piece of her hair behind her ear, so that he could stare at that beautiful face of hers.

"I don't think you want to know." Demi sighed, her arms still wrapped securely around her boyfriend's neck. "I was moping around all day." She told him quietly.

Joe groaned a little, "I'm sorry you had to spend your day like that."

"But it's better now." Demi smiled a little as she brought one hand down from around his neck and caressed his cheek softly. "Because you're here now and you always make my day brighter than how it was." She grinned.

"I want to take you out." Joe told her out of nowhere.

"What?" Demi asked.

"I want to take you out right now, is that okay?" Joe asked her.

"But it's so sudden—"

"Please?" Joe kissed her on the cheek and smiled.

"Okay…" Demi couldn't do anything, but agree. "Where are we going?"

"Babe, we've been dating for almost a year. You should know by now that I'm not going to tell you." Joe chuckled.

Demi groaned and leaned her head against his shoulder as they walked back into her dorm room, "you're such a party pooper." She told him with a slight smile playing on her lips. "But I still love you anyways." She leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheeks.

Joe's cheeks widened as another smile appeared on his face, "What would I do without you in my life?" He wrapped his arms around her hips and planted a soft kiss on her lips.

**Ah, I'm sorry for having you guys wait so long… I've been working my ass off to bring that stupid math grade up, but I don't think it will anytime soon, but I found time to write the chapter. Well, half of it was written already, so I just went back and added more... (: I feel like it was sorta a crappy chapter, I mean I don't know. Tell me your thoughts (: Niley drama /: but then Jemi cuteness ******** haha. Criticize away pleaaase. Rumors CHAPTER 2 is currently in the works, shall be up in the next week or so.**


	9. Back In Your Arms

**a/n: Enjooooy my loves! (: Excuse any grammar mistakes that I made… Argh, I can't notice everything xD haha.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

"You'd probably be nothing," Demi joked.

"Yeah, I think you're right." Joe answered no hint of amusement in his voice.

"Really?" Demi asked, astonished. "You know I was kidding right?" She nudged his arm a little.

"I know you were, but I wasn't."

"Awwh, Joey. I love you." Demi leaned up on her tippy toes and planted a soft kiss on his swollen, pink lips.

Joe smiled, embracing her petite frame in his arms, "but I love you more." He kissed her lips passionately.

**

Miley sighed, running a hand through her hair. She picked her phone up and pressed the speed dial on her phone swiftly, placing the phone to her ear as she waited for the person to answer.

"Hey." Demi's voice filled the other end.

"Dems, I'm so sorry that I haven't been home these past few days." Miley said in one breath.

"Mi, it's alright." Demi giggled, "I've been perfectly fine."

"Really?" Miley asked surprised.

"Why do you sound so shocked? I'm pretty capable of being by myself, Miley." Demi's tone had a bit of annoyance to it.

"I didn't mean for it to come out as a bad thing. It was just that the night before my birthday, you and Joe seemed a bit tense and I thought you two would've gotten into an argument or something…" Miley sighed.

"We did." Demi replied, "But we fixed it, so you have nothing to worry about."

"Okay."

"Where are you anyways?"

"I'm at my dad's." Miley played with her over-large t shirt and frowned a little when she realized Nick had given her this t shirt a few years back.

"You okay?" Demi asked suddenly.

"Perfect." Sarcasm dripped in Miley's tone, "just fantastically perfect."

"Hey, what's up?" Miley could hear Demi shift onto her bed and listen closely.

"I don't even no where to begin, Dem…" Miley rubbed the side of her head, trying to rid of the migraine that was starting to form when she thought too much about the situation.

"Just tell me, Miles." Demi demanded softly.

"Well, uh… please don't yell at me." Miley said at first.

"Mi, what's going on? Why would I be mad at you?" Demi held the phone closer to her ear.

"Well, okay let me start from the beginning—"

"That'd be a great idea." Demi stated.

"I don't need your sarcasm right now, Dem."

"Sorry." Demi apologized, "go on."

"Well, that night you and Joe seemed a little bit ticked off between each other… I decided to go give my dad a small visit or something and then I started to think too much…" Miley could hear Demi sigh from the other end, "and thoughts of how Nick wouldn't be able to come to my birthday party really got to me and when my dad had fallen asleep on the couch in the living room, I went up to his room…"

"You didn't…"

"Yeah, I did… I opened up his stash and I started to drink like there was no tomorrow…" Miley ran her hand through her hair again.

"Mi, you're better than that…" Demi lectured.

"I was in the moment, everything was just going wrong and I couldn't think of anything, but to get back at Nick."

"How does that get back at him, Miles?" Demi asked.

"Because I broke that promise he and I made, but that wasn't the only promise I broke that night…"

"Oh, god…" Demi dragged on.

"I'm not quite sure what happened that night, but when I awoke that morning… I was naked in my dad's bed with Nick beside me. He was naked too." Her voice got caught up in her throat.

"You and Nick had sex?" Demi said in a small breath, "what?!"

"I can't remember a thing, Demi and that's what's been eating me up inside."

"What did he say about it?"

"I can't remember. All I remember is that we finally told each other how we felt." Miley smiled a little.

"Mi, that's great! You guys are together now, right?" Demi questioned.

"That's just the beginning of it." Miley sighed, "that night, he took me out to dinner and everything was going good until I was thinking too much again, so I decided to go to the bathroom and just snap myself out of it and when I got back out, he asked me to marry him and it was so sudden that I told him no." Miley said in one quick breath.

"You what?!" Demi yelled into the phone.

Miley cringed, pulling the phone away from her ear, "I told you not to yell."

"Miley, you're fucking IN love with this guy, why in the world would you just reject him like that?!" Demi asked in disbelief. "He was the only guy you would talk about ever since we met and now that he's finally step up and asked you, you say no?! Are you crazy?" Demi said.

"I get it, Demi. I was stupid, are you done making me feel even worse?" Miley felt tears start to form at the brim of her ears. She looked up at the ceiling, blinking rapidly in hopes of getting rid of her tears, but that didn't seem to do the complete opposite. Tears fell down her cheeks and she wiped them away quickly, "I'm just so confused, Demi."

"I know sweetheart, I'm sorry. Maybe the two of you just need to talk about it…" Demi suggested.

"I know we do, but I'm just so afraid to confront him about it." Miley wiped at her eyes again, feeling the wetness on the back of her hand.

"You can't let fear get in the way, Mi. The two of you love each other; you guys even admitted it to each other… I think the reason that you said no was because you're afraid that Nick doesn't love you as much as you love him, but you know what?" Demi asked.

"What?" Miley answered.

"You're never going to really know that unless you give Nick a chance. You two are practically bounded at the hip, there isn't really a need to get to know each other, you guys did enough of that while growing up. God is giving you two a chance to form something unique and special; you can just throw this special opportunity away, Mi."

"I know, Demi… I know…"

Miley hung up the phone with Demi and sat at the end of her half-made bed; dressed in a pair of old sweats and a plain white t shirt that she had owned from when she was a teenager and a plain white t shirt. Her hair was pulled back into a side pony tail and her phone was currently in-between her hands, her fingertips fondling with the sides of the phone, flipping it open and close, open and close.

_A week later…_

Miley sat in deep silence again. The sun was blocked out by her dark curtains and she felt no need to let any lightness in. Her fingertips ran across her knuckles lightly as she felt how cold they were. She stood up and walked over to her mirror, not recognizing the girl standing in front of it. The girl standing in front of the mirror looked thin, too thin. Her hair sat on top of her head in a tangled mess, her skin looked pale white. Her facial features were emotionless. She looked gaunt and way too thin for her full face. She brought her fragile hand up to her face and brushed it across her bony cheek, gasping at the sudden cold. She brought her hand down lower and touched her collar bone, feeling her bone stick out. She gulped down painfully and licked her dry lips.

"Bud." Billy's Ray came from the door.

Miley jumped up at the sound of her dad's voice startling her, she turned toward the door and looked right at her father, "dad, you scared me." She gasped a little, a hand covering her heart.

"Sorry, Miles." He leaned his shoulder against the doorframe, "I just wanted to see if you were hungry or not, you haven't really eaten anything all day. I made your favorite." He said, hoping to convince her to leave her room and get something to eat.

"I'm just not that hungry." Miley looked down at her hands, "I'll go down later."

Billy Ray sighed, "Alright bud, I'll put everything in the microwave for you."

"Thanks." Miley listened to the soft tapping of her dad's footsteps against the hardwood floor grow fainter and fainter until she could hear them no longer. She then continued her actions of staring down at the phone in her hands. She wasn't quite sure why she sense the feeling that Nick was going to call her, but after a while she realized that it was her own fault, so why would Nick be the one calling her to apologize.

She leaned over and placed her phone onto the table before curling her knees up to her chest and leaning her chin on top of it, then she heard the familiar ring tone echo throughout her silent bedroom and she leaped toward her phone like a cheetah would leap toward their prey.

"Hello?" Her voice sounded raspy.

"Hello, my name is Jenny and I just wanted—"

Miley quickly hung up on the advertisement ad. She felt so stupid for thinking it was actually Nick; her ring tone rang throughout her room once more and without another thought in mind, she pressed the ignore button and set it back on the table before continuing on with her earlier actions, "I need some booze…" She said quietly to herself.

She walked over to her closet and wiggled out of the oversized clothing, kicking them into a pile in the corner. She pulled out a pair of short flannel shorts and a tight fitting t-shirt, but as soon as she slipped both articles of clothing on, she noticed they were so tight fitting anymore. She sighed before pulling a pair of socks onto her icy cold feet. She slipped on her tennis shoes and jogged out of her room and down the stairs.

"Mile," Billy Ray stood up from his seat, "let me go get your plate out of the microwave—"

Food sounded disgusting to Miley at that moment. "I think I'm going tog o on a quick jog first…"

"Do you honestly think you need to exercise? You're already a twig, Miles." Billy Ray's forehead crinkled in worry.

"It helps me think better and clear my mind." Miley tried again.

"Alright," Billy Ray responded, defeated. "Don't stay out too late though."

--

Nick sighed, running a hand through his already messy and tangled curls. Of course she'd ignore his call, she sounded so upset with him yesterday, why wouldn't she have? He threw his phone against the carpeted floor as hard as he could, feeling all the pent of frustration release into that one throw. His phone bounced back against the carpet and rolled underneath his bed. Groaning in annoyance, he kneeled down on his knees and peered underneath his bed.

The first he spotted wasn't his phone, but an old knick-knack that Miley had given to him as a joke on his 17th birthday. Forgetting about his phone, he grasped his fingers around the knick-knack and stood up, admiring the small details of the little toy.

"Man, I haven't sent this in so long…" He said quietly to himself. He threw the toy up in the air a few times, catching it in his palm a few seconds later. "I wonder what else is still under there…" He threw the old stuffed Yankees toy onto his bed before kneeling back onto the ground again.

Fifteen minutes later of exploring the underside of his bed, he had managed to discover some embarrassing photos of himself from when he was a child, old movie stubs from the times he and Miley would sneak out every Friday to see the most recent flick that was released. He shook his head a little while thinking back at the memories of how he and Miley used to act when they were younger. Upon finding some old, dirty gym socks, he was also able to recover an old kindergarten photo album of the day he and Miley had first met.

After moving everything else aside, he sat himself on his bed, the tattered old book in hand. He began slowly flipping through the pages of the book, laughing at how horrible his handwriting was as a kid and smiling at all the pictures he and Miley had taken together. It was funny to him how all along she was the one that he wanted to marry and she had been right by his side this whole time.

"I love you, Miley Ray." He traced the outline of her photograph with his fingertips, "I just wished you would've let me show you just how much." He traced over her toothy grin, a sad smile appearing on his lips.

The clashing of pots and pans from downstairs awoke Nick up from his unfamiliar slumber. He rolled over on his bed slightly, feeling the pain of his back ache from the uncomfortable position he was laying. He felt like he hadn't slept a wink at all last night; He sat up, rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hands; he noticed he had fallen asleep with the photo album still placed in his lap. He folded it back to the front and set it off somewhere to the side and leaned back. He kicked the covers off of his body and stared right at the ceiling, placing his hands behind his head as he tried to erase the look of disappointment that he saw on his father's face when he had walked through the door last night.

He grabbed his phone, flipping it around in his hands a few times before finally opening up his contacts list. The pad of his thumb scrolled the screen down to her name and he hesitated for a minute before pressing the call button. The call went straight to voicemail and he drew in a deep breath.

"Hey, Mi—I mean Miley, this is Nick if you haven't noticed… I, uh… I just wanted to see if you were okay and I was hoping that uhm that we could meet sometime soon and talk because I think we should really sort this out. Call me back. Bye." He hung the phone up and closed his eyes, sighing in frustration.

_What was going to happen to the two of them now? _He couldn't help, but frown at the thought a little.

He lounged around in his room for another hour before finally pushing up enough strength to get out of bed and get ready for the day. He put a navy blue sweater over his muscle shirt and walked down the stairs.

"Hey dad," Nick greeted.

"Morning son," Paul set his coffee mug down onto the table. "How was your night?"

"Good," Nick replied with a slight nod, "yours?"

"It was good," Paul nodded as well. "I was watching the game last night."

"Well, that sure sounds good." Nick said, dragging the conversation out a little.

"Cut the chit chat son, I want to know what really happened for Miley to have said no." Paul set the newspaper down and stared his son right in the eye.

"There's not much to tell you dad. I asked her and she said no, what else is there to say?" Nick asked, looking down at his hands.

"Was there some sort of hesitation in her voice?"

"I-I don't know." Nick sighed, "All I know is that everything went wrong, I had the waiters set up this small dessert and when she got it, she would see the ring and then, I would propose to her, but my nerves got the best of me and I just blurted the damn question out. You should've seen the look on her face, dad. She never looked so serious until she uttered the word 'no.'" Nick shook his head slightly.

"Son…" Paul leaned over and placed a hand on Nick's shoulder.

"Well, it's probably because of what happened the night before…" Nick said more to himself than to his dad.

"What happened?"

Nick's head snapped up, "Uhh… nothing. It was nothing." He said, not wanting to talk to his dad about something like that.

"Have you tried calling her?"

"Goes to voicemail." Nick replied.

"Maybe it's better if you went over to her—"

"No."

"And why not? You can't just sit around here and wait for her, Nick." Paul said.

"I know, but what am I supposed to do, dad? She won't pick up her phone when I call, how am I so sure she'll even come to the door when I go over?"

"Well, you never know if you don't try." Paul huffed before picking the newspaper up again, flapping it loudly, knowing that it would annoy Nick.

Nick rolled his eyes before getting up and pushing his chair in, "I think I'm going to go for a walk." He slammed the door shut as he left.

"That's my boy." Paul licked his fingertip before turning to the next page of the newspaper, a smile appearing on his face.

*

Nick pulled out his phone and dialed her number, waiting for her familiar voice to pick up.

"Nick!" Mikayla said excitedly, "how did everything go?!" She smiled widely.

"Wrong." Nick seethed.

"What? No. What happened, Nick?" Mikayla's voice softened, "are you okay?"

"I'm everything, but okay right now Micki… Everything just went the total opposite of what I had planned. She said no."

"You're kidding me right? Please tell me you are, Nick. Please tell me you're joking around and you're going to bust up laughing and start yelling, 'ha, you believed me!'" Mikayla huffed softly.

"Sadly, I'm not joking this time… She actually said no... When everyone was so sure that she'd answer yes."

Mikayla sighed, "Nick… That's only because we were pretty sure she was going to. Her answer probably shocked everyone…"

"I'm just an idiot." Nick shook his head, "I rushed into things way too quickly and she probably got scared away. I just should have waited longer instead of trying to do this on her birthday. It wasn't the right time…" He ran his hand through his hair for the 50th time that day.

"Nick, stop it…" Mikayla sighed, "stop being so hard on yourself. It's not your fault."

"Stop what, Mikayla? Apparently it wasn't _her_ fault. Of course it was mine." Nick said in frustration.

"Have you tried talking to her?" Mikayla suggested.

"That would've been a good idea if she didn't fucking ignore me! Of course I tried." Nick rolled his eyes.

"You really don't need to take out your frustrations on me right now, Nick. I was just trying to help. Call me when you cool down." Mikayla pressed the end button.

"Stupid stupid stupid." Nick dropped his head into his hands. "Fucking shit." He mumbled, feeling angry with himself, "you always know how to screw up everything."

He pushed himself off of the front steps and began to cross the lawn over to Miley's house. He rang the bell once and waited a few seconds before pressing the button again. He knew someone was home. Both cars were still parked in the driveway.

He began to grow a little impatient and started rocking on the heels of his feet. Suddenly, the door opened and displayed Miley in a really revealing jogging outfit. His eyes expanded a little as he looked over body up and down subconsciously. His eyes went up to meet hers and his mouth quickly dried up.

"Uh, I—"

"I can't really talk; I'm going for a jog." Miley brushed past him and walked onto the driveway.

"Can I jog with you then?" Nick asked as he walked beside her, "you don't really have to say anything, just listen…"

Miley shrugged it off and began with a light jog. Not knowing what to say, she plugged her earphones into her ears and blasted the music.

Not noticing that she had placed earphones into her ear, he began to talk, "I know it seems awkward between us, but that's the last thing that I would have ever wanted to have happened between us, Miles… You're my best friend and I don't want to lose that relationship we had just because I rushed into things and caused you even more confusion…" He paused a little, still watching his feet as he jogged.

His phone began to vibrate in his hand and he looked down at the unfamiliar number, "hello?" He said into the receiver hesitantly.

"I feel bad." Mikayla sighed, "I should be more sympathetic to how you're feeling no matter how much of a jerk you were being."

"It's alright, Miki. No need to apologize."

Miley's head snapped towards Nick when she heard him talk on the phone, "whose Miki?" She questioned.

Nick looked up at Miley, who had stopped jogging and was now standing there, waiting for an answer. "She's a friend of mine back in Boston… She's sorta the one I said was my girlfriend, but then she really wasn't…"

Mikayla frowned on the other line, "yeah…" She answered even though Miley couldn't hear her.

"Oh." Miley replied sheepishly.

"Do you want to talk to her?" Nick asked.

"I-uh, I don't know…" Miley stammered.

"I promise you she isn't that mean, she's just really weird." Nick chuckled.

"I can still hear you!" Mikayla said, "and how rude!"

Nick shook his head and looked at Miley, "so yeah?"

"No, I think I'm good… No offense to Miki…" Miley replied, "I'll just meet you back at the house?"

Before Nick had time to respond back, Miley had started jogging again. She jogged on as quickly as she could, not looking back to check if Nick had ran after her. She stopped and panted, trying to regain her breath. She looked back and noticed that Nick was nowhere to be found. A rush of disappointment ran throughout her body and she dropped down onto the floor. She didn't know if it was from exhaustion or if it was from all the emotions that she was feeling at once.

She couldn't hold them in anymore. Her tears spilled down the sides of her face. Angry tears. Sad tears. Hurt tears. They all came pouring down her face and this time, she didn't bother to wipe any of them away.

-

"Go after her, you doof!" Mikayla ordered.

Nick sighed, "She doesn't want to talk to me, Miki…"

"And that's your reason for giving up?" Mikayla asked.

"What else am I supposed to do when she can't even look at me anymore?"

"You KEEP trying, Nick because eventually she WILL talk to you, I'm sure of it. You better not give up and fly back over here because last sentence.

Nick sighed.

"And I know that you will. I mean hello, you're Nicholas Gray." Mikayla felt her cheeks redden a little and felt grateful that Nick couldn't see her. "If Miley denies you again, that girl doesn't know what kind of guy she's missing out on…"

"Thanks Miki." Nick cracked a small smile, "thanks for everything."

"Yeah, yeah. Now hurry up, the love of your life is waiting for you to catch her already."

Nick smiled wider this time, "I'll call you back and tell you how everything goes."

"Don't forget! Bye." Mikayla hung up and looked down at her phone. Her stomach felt funny. Did she just get _butterflies_ from talking to Nick on the phone? "Of course not…" She told herself before standing up and throwing her phone onto her bed. "Fresh air sounds good…" She grabbed her sweater and walked out of her dorm room.

"Hey Miki." Jake greeted with a bright smile.

"Hey Nick—I mean Jake! Hey Jake." Mikayla quickly fixed her mistake.

"Did you just call me Nick?" Jake questioned with a confused glance.

"What? No! OF course not… I was saying… this school is made of bricks! Yeah bricks… I'll see you later, bye." Mikayla walked away quickly before making a bigger fool of herself in front of her friend.

-

Miley pushed herself off of the hard concrete and began to run again, not caring how tired her legs and feet were. She just wanted to run; run as far away as she could possibly go. Her feet were beginning to grow too tired to go any farther and she stopped, looking up at the hot sun that was beating down on her sweaty body.

"Miley!" Nick called, a few blocks away from where she was standing.

Miley turned to look at him, but turned back and looked down the empty road.

"Miles," Nick panted as he finally stood behind her, "why in the world did you run so far?"

"I wanted to…" Miley began to walk away from him again.

"Don't walk away from me again, Miles…" Nick grabbed her arm, but quickly released it, "you're so skinny now…" He said in a soft whisper.

Miley looked at him, her eyes sad, "I've always been this skinny, Nick." She replied.

"That's bullshit, Miley." Nick walked in front of her, making her stop in her tracks, "you're skinny, but you aren't _this_ skinny. Have you not been eating?" He questioned.

"I don't really need to answer your questions."

"I'm just worried about you…"

"Well, don't be,"

"Too bad because I'm always going to care about you, no matter what you do or say to me." Nick told her as she began to walk away again. "I'm always going to love you with everything in me even if you do reject me and never talk to me again. I'm always going to be your best friend no matter how many times you tell me you hate me—"

"I never said I hated you Nick." Miley turned around to look at him, "I'd never hate you."

"Yeah, I know… I was just saying. You know just in case you might in the future?" Nick down at his scuffed shoes.

Miley brought her hand to his face, making her look down into her eyes, "I said I would _never_ hate you Nick. That means it will _never_ happen."

Nick's breath got caught in his throat as he noticed the familiar gleam reappear into Miley's dull blue eyes, "I know that now…" He breathed out, absentmindedly making Miley shiver.

Miley began to move in closely and soon here lips were a few centimeters away from his.

Nick swooped in and closed the really small gap that was between the two of them. He wrapped his arms around her fragile body, holding it gently as he continued to deepen the kiss more than before.

**a/n: God, I'm a horrible FF writer! It takes me SO freaking long just to update something, but I really hope the wait is worth it. =/ School just sucks and it's easier to update yt! D: But I never forgot you guys; I don't think I ever will :3 Review your thoughts please? WEEKS to write, minutes to review xD**

**So, the NJK awards rolled around again and I could've sworn we just had the other one… xD ****.**** vote for me in all the categories I'm nominated in? (: please and thank you 333**


	10. Who Knew

**It's been a month since I updated, so I skipped a month... xD Dedicated to Shannon (: Read author's note below…**

It had been one month since Miley and Nick had last seen each other; one month since they had decided that they would be better off as friends until Nick could figure out a way to transfer from Boston back to Los Angeles. 30 _long_ days since the two of them had gone constantly yearning for each other's sweet, warm embrace.

Even though they had both agreed to stay _just_ friends for the time being, they both knew that their feelings towards each other could not go unmasked. Especially not after the intimate night they shared with each other before Nick's tearful departure the next day…

_Flashback…_

_They had given each other full permission to explore the other person's body. Each kiss that was shared, it wouldn't be enough to fulfill the desire that the two adults yearned so much for…_

"_Nick," Miley gasped, her hair damp from their earlier actions._

"_Yes beautiful?" He questioned, his voice uneven and ragid as well; he could sense that something was wrong. Miley was just lying there, clutching tightly to his body, her eyes were closed and her breathing had slowly gone back to normal._

"_What's going to happen between us after tomorrow?" She was afraid of what he would say; she always seemed to be afraid of Nick what would do—of what he would say… He always knew just when to surprise her; sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse._

"_I'm not really sure," He admitted in a whisper; he kept his eyes down on her, waiting for her to yell or scream at him like she always did when she was upset. It was quite obvious that she was upset with him with the way she wasn't saying anything._

_Miley attempted to swallow the hard lump that was growing in her throat, but the more she tried, the more she felt her throat close up. Her mouth was growing dry and she could taste the salty tears that left her eyes. She hadn't noticed that she closed her eyes until she automatically re-opened them; she slowly looked up, her sad blue eyes boring into his concerned brown ones._

_Nick stared at her, his forehead creased in concern. He didn't mean for his response to upset her so much to the point that she'd start crying, "I'm sorry," he murmured. "I didn't mean to make you cry." He ran the pads of his thumb underneath her eyes, quickly drying the tears away._

_Miley stared at him, her eyes burning with love and passion, "I don't want you to leave." She whimpered out. She hated feeling selfish, but this was just one of the times where she wished that Nick would always be with her. She wanted him to stay here with her, to hold her when she felt sad; to kiss her randomly just to make her smile; to be her knight and shining armor when she was having a bad day. She just wanted __**him.**_

"_And I don't want to leave you…" he responded truthfully, "but after I finish this semester, I'm going to find my way back over here. I promise." He told her while planting another kiss on her hair._

"_What if you fall for someone else?" She felt her heart grow heavy as she looked at him again, impatiently waiting for his response._

"_I won't," he replied, "my heart belongs to you and only you." He told her._

_A small smile appeared on Miley's lips; she could feel her heartbeat thump methodically in her chest as she stared at Nick, knowing he meant every word that he had said, "I love you." She murmured so quietly it was almost inaudible for Nick to hear, but she knew he had heard her._

"_I love you too," Nick replied, kissing her again; his kisses grew more and more passionate with each one that they shared and before they knew it, they were going through the same routine that they had been doing for the past few hours…_

_**Too bad he lied…**_

_Nick had finished saying goodbye to his dad and Mr. Cyrus and now he and Miley were currently standing by the taxi that would be driving Nick to the airport after he was finished saying goodbye to Miley; he placed the last bag into the trunk before closing it lightly._

_He slowly turned to look at Miley who had her arms wrapped lightly around herself, her hair slightly pulled up in a pony tail. Her eyes were tired, but there was still a slight smile playing on her lips. "Maybe it's better if we do stay friends, Mi… to make it easier for the two of us." Nick told her quietly, watching the smile swipe off of her face quickly._

_Miley unwrapped her arms from around her body, feeling herself break a little on the inside, "but last night… you said—" the tears were beginning to build up in her eyes again as she started at him, feeling more confused than ever, "did you lie?" She asked breathlessly._

"_I meant what I said last night," he reassured her, "you do own my heart and you always will… I just don't think that we should call ourselves a couple when we're living so far from each other." He explained, watching her intently._

"_We can do this, Nick," she told him hesitantly._

"_Long distance relationships don't last, Miles…"_

"_I went two years without seeing you, Nick. I think I can go a few more months," she murmured quietly._

"_That was before we admitted our feelings towards each other and you went into depression after we didn't talk for a few days… You may say you're not going to this time, but I don't want to risk it," he said._

_Miley pulled him to her by the base of his neck, crashing her lips into his. Trying her best to convince him to change his mind, but instead of feeling him responding to her feverent kiss, she felt him pulled away, leaving her feeling even more disappointed and heartbroken._

"_Just friends, okay?" He told her once more in a whisper._

"_I can't even kiss you now?" She asked, frustration building inside her, "I love you, Nick! Doesn't that change anything?!" She yelled in his face._

"_Miley," he attempted to calm her down, but she pushed him farther away from herself._

"_Thanks for using me for the past month as your sex toy," she said harshly as she looked him in the eyes, hoping that maybe it would just hurt him a little bit. She was wrong though because her comment had hurt him __**a lot;**__ it actually killed him a little inside._

"_You think I just used you?" He whispered to her, feeling heartbroken that she would ever think that._

"_I don't know! You're being so confusing, Nick! You tell me that you love me and we spent the whole night together and now— now you're saying we should be just friends… Like, how are you expecting me to respond to all of this?" she wondered._

"_**We**__**made love**__, Miley. There's a difference between that and having sex… we made love, okay? I would never abuse your body like that way… and I __**do**__ love you; I will never lie to you when I tell you that. I- I just think it'll just be better for us if we stay friends for now, but if you don't want to, then I won't force you to." He responded, still a little hurt with what she had said about him using her._

_Miley stubbornly pushed him away from her again when he tried to wrap his arms around her trembling stature, "I don't care anymore. You can do whatever you want," she muttered._

_Nick grasped his hand around her arm, not letting her run away from him again as she began to walk away, "I'll see you in a few weeks." He told her softly._

_Miley stood there, glaring at the concrete floor, but soon that glare softened and her eyes got sad and watery again; she swiftly turned around and ran into his arms, feeling foolish for picking a fight with Nick right before he had to leave, "I- I'm sorry." She stuttered out._

"_You have nothing to apologize for," he held onto her tightly._

"_Just friends or boyfriend and girlfriend… I don't care as long as we're going to be okay," she told him shakily._

_Nick pulled back, gliding his thumbs underneath her eyes again to wipe away the tears that had fallen; he cup her face gently in his hands, leaning in and placing a soft kiss on top of her temple, "I love you," he whispered to her._

_Miley closed her eyes, absorbing the last few seconds of having Nick hold her, "I love you too," she uttered before feeling Nick let go of her; her eyes shot open again, only this time to see Nick get into the taxi. She watched as it drove away, Nick waving slightly to her from inside. She wrapped her arms around her once again, trying to savor Nick's scent in her clothes._

_--_

_Miley had decided that it was best for her to move back in with Demi at her dorm to save her dad some trouble with the rent; she walked back into the unfamiliar room, surprised to see that her stuff was still where she had left it a month ago. She was sure that Demi would've packed all of her belongings up and stored them away by now._

"_Miley!" Demi screamed when she walked out of the bathroom, seeing the blank look on the brunette's face._

_Miley was caught off guard when Demi's body had collided with her, the two of them now lying on the floor, laughing hysterically, "I missed you." She hugged Demi's body tighter._

"_I missed you too," Demi giggled, "does this mean you're moving back in again?" She questioned excitedly._

"_Yes, yes it does." Miley smiled._

"_Yes!" Demi squealed as she pulled Miley into another death grip, "it's been so lonely here without you, but now it won't be anymore!" She smiled widely._

_Miley chuckled at how happy Demi was, "we have so much to catch up on…"_

_End Flashback_

Miley walked slowly back to her and Demi's room; she slid her key into the lock and pushed the door open, dropping her bag to the floor as a sigh left her lips, "stupid Calculus test," she muttered to herself as she walked over to their mini fridge and pulled out a small juice box. After taking long gulps to satisfy her sudden thirst, she then, threw herself onto the full size bed, letting the tension of her body relax instantly at the feel of the soft mattress.

"Miley," Demi yelled when she entered the room a minute later.

Miley groaned as she turned over to stare at the ceiling, "Yes Demetria?" She questioned tiredly.

"Ooh, someone's stressed…" Demi said after hearing Miley refer to her by her first name, "you okay?" She asked as she pulled a water bottle out of the mini fridge and looked at Miley skeptically.

"Nothing except that I realized that I made a mistake when I was picking my classes; I don't even know why I'm taking math right now when I'm planning to major in business," she mumbled frustratingly.

"Extra practice?" Demi shrugged, trying to lighten the mood.

"Ugh," Miley groaned again, "anyways, why did you call me earlier?" she propped herself on her elbow and looked at her best friend curiously.

"Well, I wanted to know if you wanted to go shopping…" Demi's sentence trailed off and she looked away from Miley.

"Why aren't you looking at me?" Miley questioned.

"Well, it wasn't going to be just the two of us…" Demi continued to trail off her sentences as she glanced around the room.

"Who else is going?" Miley wondered.

"Just these two girls from my Physics class; they're really nice, trust me," Demi reassured her when she saw the hesitant look on Miley's face, "please? We never go out as much anymore and if we do, it's always like to the movies or something..."

"Sorry, I thought you liked going to the movies," Miley laid back down on the bed again.

"I never said that I didn't… I just think we should just go shopping with Kayla and Jesse," Demi mumbled. "You know to make new friends—" she was instantly cut off.

"Those two?!" Miley sat up again, her hair instantly falling in her face, "they're so annoying!" She said as she pushed her hair out of her face to look at Demi.

"No, they aren't," Demi defended.

"Yeah, they are. I had in class the other day and they didn't know how to shut their mouths," Miley complained.

"They're just very social people…" Demi commented.

"I don't want to go," Miley said.

"Miley!" Demi rolled her eyes, "you always judge people before you get to know them," she argued.

"I do not. I _know_ how Kayla and Jesse are," Miley shot back.

"Whatever, don't go then," Demi muttered as she set the water bottle on the table and threw her book bag onto the bed, "you've just been different ever since you moved back in," she said bitterly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Miley asked feeling offended with her comment.

"I don't know, but you seem to be even moodier than you were before; I actually prefer the depressed Miley over this always mad/annoyed Miley," Demi said.

"So, you'd want me to be depressed all the time? Wow, thanks," Miley rolled her eyes.

"There goes that stupid mood of yours again!" Demi threw her hands up in annoyance, "God Miley, one person can take so much of your moods!" She yelled.

Miley stared at her angrily; she could feel her face getting hot as she glared at Demi. Just then, she felt her stomach flip, "I think I'm going to be sick," she jolted up from her seat on the bed and made a beeline to the bathroom; she dropped to the floor in front of the toilet, letting the contents of her stomach spill into the porcelain bowl.

"Miley," Demi's voice softened as she entered the bathroom and kneeled beside her, holding her hair back and rubbing her back slightly.

Miley continued to cough violently; she pointed toward the sink, signaling for Demi to get her some water as she coughed continuously.

Demi stood up immediately, running back into the room to grab a cup and fill it with water; she walked back in a second later, kneeling next to Miley again, "here," she handed her the cup and watched as Miley slowly drained the cup.

"Thanks," Miley replied hoarsely as she brought the cup down from her dry lips.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Demi asked worriedly.

"I think it's just those waffles again," Miley said as she held her stomach a little, "nothing to worry about," she told her best friend as she looked up at her.

Demi pursed her lips in a thin line, "maybe its best you stay in bed for now," she helped Miley to her feet and back into the room, "do you need Tylenol or anything?" She wondered.

Miley shook her head, "I think I just want to sleep," she told Demi truthfully. "You go out with Kayla and Jesse," she mumbled their names as she slipped into bed and underneath her covers, feeling relaxation run throughout her body.

Demi sighed a little, "call me if you need anything, okay?" she said quietly, getting concerned with Miley's sudden sickness.

"Mhm," Miley mumbled incoherently before falling asleep.

Demi pulled the covers over her slightly, making sure she was warm enough before grabbing another cup and filling it with water again; she set it on the side table beside Miley before walking into the closet to get ready.

--

Miley woke up to the constant buzzing coming from her bedside; she opened her eyes slowly, seeing her phone light up and vibrate around the table. She reached out to the phone, her arm instantly getting hit with the sudden cold breeze; she quickly grabbed the cellular device and pulled her arm underneath the warm covers again, "hello?" she answered groggily.

"Hey," Nick answered softly, "are you okay?" he asked when he heard the tone she was responding in.

Miley turned over on the bed, trying to find another comfortable spot to sleep on before answering Nick, "yes," she mumbled.

"Demi called earlier and told me that you weren't feeling well; are you sure you're alright?" Nick asked again, not really believing the answer she was given him. She may say she was alright, but she sounded everything but.

A small smile appeared on Miley's face as she thought about how much Demi and Nick cared, "yes, Nick," she answered again, "I just ate some bad breakfast this morning and I guess it just gave me an upset stomach, don't worry." She told him.

Nick let out a breath that he didn't notice he was holding, "don't scare me like that…" he sighed as he heard Miley's tone change.

"What did I do?" Miley asked, feeling confused now; she brought her hand to her hair, running it through her locks swiftly.

"The way Demi told me everything, she made it seem like you were dying or something… I called you the second I hung up with her," Nick said sheepishly, "You scared the living daylights out of me."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Miley mumbled tiredly as she yawned; she couldn't help, but smile again at how worried Nick was. "Thanks for caring though."

"Of course I care Miles… I should probably let you go back to sleep," Nick said disappointedly. He had been waiting all day to hear her voice, but he knew he should let her rest.

"No," Miley disagreed, "I want to listen to you talk," she whispered quietly.

"But you're not feeling well," Nick tried, "you should be resting," he hated how he always contradicted with himself.

"So? Just tell me about your day…"

"It's like any other day… Boring. Because I haven't been able to see you for the past month," Nick admitted quietly, "I miss you." He said softly into the receiver.

Miley closed her eyes again, feeling sleep overpower her again. A small smile appeared on her face as she heard the words Nick said replay in her head a few times before she felt herself slip into unconsciousness.

**a/n: WHOA, finally an update (: Ah, this story was so much easier to write than Rumors :p lol. It's sorta short, but I wrote it in like 4 hours… So, I couldn't upload Two Worlds Collide… yet. And I saw Shannon's epic comments and saw that she wanted me to update Twenty One, so I whipped out word document and began to write like a mad woman! xD It was much easier than I thought… since I've been confused about a lot of stuff lately. The Niley scene in the beginning made me really sad, but enough about that… ;P Thanks so much for all the NJK award winnings! I won Best New Author! :D Thanks so much! (: I less than three you guys… Reviews would be appreciated greatly. (: Winter break has started… Maybe I can update more frequently now? Yeah! :D**


	11. Chapter 11

**You all have permission to hunt me down with pitchforks...**

"Miles?" Nick called into the receiver a minute later after hearing nothing, but silence. Realizing Miley had fallen asleep on him, he whispered a soft good night to her before ending the call. He tossed the cellular device onto his unmade bed and stood up, stretching his limbs a little, a sigh of contentment leaving his lips. Upon hearing a slight knock on his door, he made his way over to the door and opened it, revealing a tear-stained Mikayala standing in front of him. "Miki, what happened?" he wondered, his tone soft and concerned for his friend's well-being.

"H-he stood me up," she mustered out through her crocodile tears, her dark locks sticking to the frame of her face.

"Who?" He asked when he ushered Mikayla into his dorm room; he shut the door and sat down beside her on the bed, "Miki…" he tried again a moment later, wiping his hand over her damp face. "Who stood you up?"

"C-cody!" she said, feeling herself break down all over again at the sound of his name. "I waited for him for two hours, Nick and he didn't even text or call to tell me he wasn't coming… I sat there like a total idiot, waiting." She brought her own trembling hand up to her make-up streaked face, wiping the tears away. "I thought he was going to be different, but I was wrong."

"He isn't worth your tears," Nick told her softly. "You deserve so much better than him."

She shook her head, turning her face away from him as the tears fleeted down her face once more, "why are boys such jerks, Nicky?" She wondered. "It seems like all they want to do is toy with a girl's feeling and once they get what they want, they throw us away like we're some rag doll or something."

"I don't know…" he told her lowly, honestly not knowing how to respond to what she had just said. Everything that had just left her lips was true, but sometimes we didn't mean to do it purposely…

"You're not a jerk though," she murmured softly, sniffling a bit.

Draping his arm around her shoulder, he pulled her body closer to his, "hey, look at me." He told her, waiting as Mikayla turned to look at him. "Smile." He brought his hand up to her face and pushed the corners of her lips upward, forming a funny looking grin. "That's better," he chuckled humorously.

Slapping his hand away, a slight laugh left her soft pink lips. She leaned her head onto his shoulder, "how do you manage to make someone feel better in a matter of a few minutes?" She asked, glancing up at him.

He shrugged slightly, "it's pretty easy actually," he admitted with a sly grin. Seeing the evident tears still visible in her eyes, he moved his hands over her eyes again, wiping them away. "no more tears over a asshole like him, alright?"

Nodding, she opened her eyes again. "Nah, I think it's because you're Nick Gray," she smiled up at him.

"Psh, yeah," he said and tried to play if off coolly, but that only caused Mikayla to laugh at him some more. "Hey, we should go do something," he suggested.

Lifting her head off his shoulder, "Pinkberry?" She questioned hopefully.

"It's like you read my mind," he stood up and offered his hand to her.

She placed her hand in his palm and allowed him to help her up to her feet. "You're like an open book, Nick. Anyone can read your mind," she stuck her tongue out playfully at him. "Can I fix my make-up first?" she asked.

"Yeah, you left some of your stuff in the second drawer in the bathroom," he responded before moving over to his closet to find a clean shirt to wear.

Walking into the bathroom, she opened the second drawer and like he said, some of her make-up that she hadn't remembered leaving there, "why do you have my mascara and lipgloss?" She asked, poking her head back into his room. "Are you hiding something from me, Nick?" She wondered with a giggle.

"Did someone forget whose place they got ready at last week?" he replied as he pulled a clean white t shirt over his head of curls; he turned to look at her, his eyebrow arching up at her. "Huh, little missy?" he bobbed his head playfully, snapping his fingers a bit.

She laughed at his antics and shook her head a little. "Oh yeah," her cheeks flushed a light pink at the sight of Nick being shirtless in front of her for a few seconds. Craning her neck back into the bathroom, she reapplied some mascara onto her thick dark lashes. Brushing some blush across her intensifying cheekbones, she applied a small amount of peach flavored lipgloss onto her thin lips again.

"Pinkberry is waiting!" He told her impatiently.

"I'm done, I'm done," she moved everything off the bathroom counter and into the drawer again, slamming it shut quickly. Walking back into his room, Nick's hand immediately flew to her wrist, leading her out of his dorm room. "Yeesh, someone wants their frozen yogurt badly," she laughed as he pulled her down the busy hall, dodging the crowds of bulky guys who were screaming at the TV that was displaying the Super Bowl game. "Why aren't _you_ watching the Super Bowl?" She asked him as they made their way down the stairs.

"We all know who are going to win. Saints." He told her simply, his hand absentmindedly moving down from her wrist to her hand. Lacing their fingers together, they walked out the admin building and towards his car, the bright sunlight beating down on their retreating figures.

"You never know! The other team could win," she defended.

He started to laugh, "You're kidding me right?" he asked as he glanced over at her.

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes at him, keeping her gaze forward on the quad.

"Who are _you_ rooting for in the Super Bowl?" He inquired her politely. "Don't tell me it's the—"

"Colts," she said matter-of-factly, interrupting his sentence.

"No wonder someone has their undies in a knot!" He said with a smirk. "Sorry Miki, but your team is going to lose," he told her, teasing her playfully.

"Ha, that's what you think, Gray," she responded.

"Does someone want to bet on it?" He questioned, his eyebrow arching up a bit at her, eyeing her seriously.

"You want to lose money on it as well? Fine," she smiled confidently. "You're on, Gray." She said.

"Who said we were betting money?" He retorted, the playful grin reappearing on his thin, pink lips.

"Well, what are we betting then?" She asked, her forehead creasing in thought of what Nick would have in mind for the bet.

"If I win, you have to do my laundry for a month." He said. "Baseball season is coming up and you know how sweaty I get," he told her with a chuckle.

"Do you want me to do?!" She asked with wide eyes, her nose crinkling up in disgust. "And yeah, I _do_ how sweaty you get, nasty…" she laughed.

"You can't turn back now, you already agreed on the bet," he told her.

Sighing, she bowed her head a bit and nodded, "okay, if you win… I have to do your laundry for a month," she shuddered a bit at the thought. "But if I win, which I will… you have to come with me to do a manicure and pedicure," she smiled wickedly.

"You're going to have me get a manicure and pedicure?!" He asked with a horrified look.

"You're going to make me do your nasty laundry!" She shot back.

"You're a girl, you're supposed to offer to do my laundry," he said playfully.

"Haha, not funny." She smacked him across the shoulder. "Sexist jerk," she muttered.

"You know I was playing," his free hand went to her head, rubbing her head annoyingly, knowing he wasn't going to hear the end of it in the car.

"Nick!" She whined, dropping her hand from his to fix her hair. "You better watch it before I make you go get that manicure later _TODAY._"

Groaning, he opened the passenger door for her, "you're an awful friend," he said, closing the door and chuckling a bit at the shocked look on Mikayla's face as he uttered those last few words. He walked over to his side and got in, pushing the key into the ignition, "but I guess that would make me an awful friend too," he turned to look at her as he started up his car, seeing her familiar smile appear on her glowing face.

--

Walking into the crowded yogurt shop, Mikayla's eyes fell onto the menu, scanning for something that fitted her appetite at the moment, "what are you gonna order, curly top?" she asked, turning to look at Nick.

"Vanilla yogurt with sprinkles," he responded like it was nothing of surprise.

"Don't you get tired of ordering the same thing?" She wondered, her eyes looking back at the menu again, lighting up a few times as she thought about how good that sounded.

He shrugged his shoulders again, "that's Miley's favorite thing to get here, so when I order it, it reminds me of her," he smiled.

"Ah, I see… you're such a dork in love," she told him with a head shake, her eyes still studying the colorful menu of assorted frozen desserts.

"There's nothing wrong with being a dork in love," he retorted.

A slight laugh left her lips and she looked back at him, "I never said it was a wrong thing." She said. "I think I'll just order a plan vanilla yogurt with cookie crumbles." She smiled at the cashier when it reached their turn and pulled out her wallet when Nick's hand landed over hers, stopping her actions instantly.

"I'm paying," he handed the cashier the needed change and walked away as Mikayla soon followed after him.

"Nick." She called after him when she took the receipt from the cashier.

Sitting down in one of the booths by the window, he waited patiently as Mikayla slid in the seat in front of him, "yes?" he asked, cocking his head to the side a little.

"I could've paid for us," she told him with a slight off, placing the receipt in front of the two of them.

"Yeah, but when you're with me, you don't have to pay for anything." He replied.

She shook her head, "you won't be saying that once you're in debt," she said playfully.

"You want you jinx me, don't you?!" he accused teasingly with a laugh.

"You know it's the truth," she teased back.

A slight chuckle left his lips as he watched Mikayla dash out of her seat to receive their order after hearing the waitress call out their number, "you must think you're special now since you got our order, huh?" he asked after she had sat back down, a satisfied smile etched across her face.

"Mhm, a little," she laughed, pushing his cup of yogurt to him.

"Feeling better?" he inquired curiously, scooping a spoonful of the fluffy goodness into his mouth.

"Much thanks," she told him with a grin.

**~*~**

Her eyes shot open, instantly staring off into the darkness of the dorm room; her heart was pounding inside her chest like she had just ran a race or something. She brought her cold hand up to her clammy forehead, swiping her damp bangs out of her face. She sat up and pushed her comforter off her persperated body, in hopes of cooling herself down, "it was just a dream… just a dream," she repeated to herself as she blindly felt around for the lamp switch.

Allowing the small light to illuminate some of the room for her, she stood up shakily, her head still not adjusted to standing up just yet; she could feel the room spinning around her a bit before it all came into focus and she stumbled toward the mini fridge, pulling out a fresh water bottle. She moved down to her knees and popped the lid off the container quickly and messily brought the tip of it to her mouth, glugging about half of the contents down, liking the feeling of the cool water splashing against the back of her throat.

Moving the bottle away from her dry mouth, she brought her hand up to her lips, wiping the excess water from the corners of her mouth. Her eyes moved to Demi's bed, not surprised to see that it was still made and Demi's body wasn't laying in it. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was only after 10 pm; shakily, she pushed herself off the floor and walked into the bathroom, her hand knocking a few things off the counter as she tried to find the light switch, "crap," she muttered, feeling the blood roll down her fingertips as she accidentally touched something sharp, most likely her razor that she had forgotten to put away a few hours earlier.

Finally, finding the switch, she squinted her eyes a bit when the light came on; she turned the sink on and ran her crimson red fingertips under the cool running water. Waiting until her fingers had stopped bleeding; she wiped her hand on a nearby washcloth and stared at her reflection. Her fingers began kneading at the bags underneath her eyes. "So many hours of sleep and I look like I didn't get any at all…" she whispered, rubbing the sleep away from her eyes.

"Miley?" she heard Demi's voice from the bedroom.

"In here," she called out groggily, splashing some water onto her face to wake her up.

"What are you doing out of bed?" Demi wondered as she placed the medication she had picked up from the pharmacy onto the counter.

"I had to pee," she told her best friend.

Crinkling her nose a little, she moved the medicine towards her, "I got worried, so I pick a few things up for you," she said. "You should take some and then go back to bed," she urged again, eyeing Miley worriedly.

"Alright, mom," she sighed playfully, picking up one of the bottles to read the labels. "Why would you get me liquid?" She made a face at Demi.

"Because pills don't even do anything to help you," she reasoned. Disappearing into the room, she came back a second later with the half empty bottle of water that Miley had chugged down, "someone got thirsty," she said with a laugh as she held the bottle up, shaking it a little to taunt Miley playfully.

"You know I'm a water person!" She laughed, taking the bottle of water out of Demi's hand. "Thanks, for getting me this…" she said and quickly took the medication, downing the other half of water. "How did shopping with the evil ones go?" She asked playfully, her hand swiping across her dry lips again as she dropped the empty bottle into the sink.

Sticking her tongue out at her best friend, "it was fun actually… well, they ditched me like 15 minutes into it, but I did find these super cute shoes," she nodded her head slightly, a wide grin appearing on her ruby red lips.

"Awh, Demi!" She draped her arms around Demi's neck and hugged her tightly. "You should've called me and I would've come in a millisecond," she told her.

"I wanted you to get your sleep, chica." She replied. "Plus Joe came to pick me up an hour after they had ditched me and we just hung out," she smiled, pulling back to look at Miley. "Hungry?" she wondered.

As if on cue, her stomach began to growl loudly, causing the both of them to burst out in laughter, "you read my mind again, huh?" she laughed, shutting the light off in the bathroom as she and Demi walked back into the room.

"Well duh, I got you girl!" She said in a weird schoolgirl voice. "Panda Express!" She held up the take-out boxes.

"Score!" her bright blue eyes lit up and she took the other one out of the bag.

In the middle of stuffing a forkful of noodles into her mouth, "did Nick ever call you?" She asked. "He sounded uber worried on the phone when I was talking to him a few hours ago," she swallowed.

"Shit, I must've fallen asleep on him when he was talking to me," she got up from her seat on the floor and grabbed her phone off the bed. "He might be sleeping right now," she sighed, placing the phone back onto the side table.

"That boy never sleeps, remember?" She laughed. "I mean you don't either… Mr. and Mrs. Webcam all night long until 6 in the morning," she teased.

"I'll just call him tomorrow morning," she said as she took a seat next to Demi again, pushing her on the shoulder lightly for the comment she had made about her and Nick webcamming; she glanced over at the dark-haired brunette and laughed, "Dems, you have a little soy sauce right here," she pointed to her chin.

"Ah!" she quickly wiped it off her chin, throwing the napkin at Miley. "You saw nothing!"

"Ew!" She laughed, flinging the napkin back at Demi's face. "I help you out and you throw your nasty napkin at me?!" she accused with a chuckle.

--

Rolling over, her hand flew to her alarm clock, pressing randomly around until she found the correct button, silencing the room again. Sighing contently, she moved deeper into her blankets until the sound of her ring tone blared loudly through the room again.

"Ugh!" Demi cried out, placing her pillow over her face.

"Sorry," she whispered hoarsely, pulling her cell phone off the table, "hello?" she answered groggily, her eyes slipping closed again as the person on the other line began to speak.

"Morning beautiful," he smiled at the sound of her voice.

"Morning," she replied monotone.

"Did I call at a bad time?" He inquired, scratching his head of curls when he had forgotten about the three hour time difference between California and Boston.

"No, I was just about to get up," she said as her eyes stayed closed as she talked to him.

"You're still a horrible liar, Miles," he sighed. "I can call back in an hour, you should sleep," he said.

"No, no. I'm up, really," she told him softly. "What's up?" she wondered, shifting onto her back; her eyes fluttered open and she stared up at the high ceiling.

"I just wanted to check up on you since someone fell asleep on me last night," he said with a sense of playfulness. "Is your tummy feeling better?"

"Yes, my tummy is feeling better," a small smile appeared on her face. "You're so cute, Nick," she said a second later with a giggle.

"You make it seem like I'm 5," he replied with a slight whine.

She laughed again as she could tell he was pouting, "I love you." She told him, her lips curving into a wider smile.

"I miss you," he said.

A slight wave of disappointment ran through her body at his response; she was really hoping that he would have said it back to her like he always had, "I miss you too." She said softly a moment later.

**a/n: AHHHHHH, I'M SO SORRY! D: REALLY really really sorry! I'm seriously writing chapter 12 as I write this, lol! Reviews are greatly appreciated; thank you for not abandoning this story yet! :/ It sort of lacks Niley and has a lot of Nick/Mikayala, but I shall fix that in chapter 12, lol. (: **


	12. Chapter 12

**RAWR.**

"Hey don't touch my signed baseball!" Nick moves the receiver away from his ear as he takes the baseball out of Mikayla's hands, placing it back into its little case. Pointing towards his closet, he shoos Mikayla towards

"You could at least be nice to me. I have to do your laundry for a month." Mikayla mutters silently as she eyes the pile of clothes on the floor. "Ew!"

"You made the bet and you lost," a smirk appears proudly onto Nick's lips as he brings the phone back to his ear.

"Nick?" Miley whispers into the receiver a second later.

"Yeah?" Nick asks.

"When are you coming down for a visit?" Miley wonders quietly, the smile swiping off her features at the sound that Nick had company and was probably not going to be paying much attention to her.

"I don't know. Maybe in a few weeks… I'm hoping to fly in for the New Years."

Miley could hear some rustling in the background and someone's voice again.

"Hey Mi, I have to go work on my term paper that's due in a few hours. I'll call you back in a little while, okay?" Nick says.

"Yeah, okay, bye." Miley hangs up the phone before hearing his response.

--

Mikayla knits her eyebrows together, "Nick, the term paper was due yesterday?" she says in puzzlement.

"I know, I just feel weird when I talk to Miley now… I feel like I'm bugging her," Nick sighs.

"Why would you think that?" Mikayla wonders incredulously.

"I don't know… I just feel like my feelings have changed about her… I miss her and all, but I feel like I've been drifting apart from her as well this past month. I don't think this long distance thing is going to work between me and her. She needs someone stable and to always be there and apparently, I'm not that someone." Nick explains.

"Don't say that, Nick…" Mikayla tries.

"You know it's true. How am I supposed to be there for her when I can't be there physically and in person?" Nick asks.

"There are ways to fix that—"

"Like continuously flying out there to see her? I don't have that kind of money to do that every few weeks, Miki."

Mikayla stays silent for a second as she ponders and watches as Nick rakes a hand through his hair in frustration, "but that's the thing, Nick… even if you're not their for her physically, she still needs you, period." She tells him truthfully. "And you know it's the same for you as well, I can tell that she cares deeply for you Nick, but she can't be here for you either, but that doesn't mean she doesn't want you out of her life…"

Nick gazes up at her and realizes the sincerity in Mikayla's soft brown eyes.

--

Now sitting up in her bed, her hands tiredly rubbing at her eyes, "who was that?" Demi asks and glances at the clock. "And why the hell are they calling at 6 in the morning?"

"It was just Nick," Miley shoves the covers off her body and throws the phone onto her side table. "I'm just going to shower first." She states to her room-mate before grudgingly pulling herself out of bed and towards the bathroom.

Miley winces a bit at the sound of the bathroom door slamming shut, "I just woke up and the headache is already coming for a visit." She falls back onto the bed and groans. "Thank you Jesus that we don't have any classes today."

_From Joe:_

_Morning babe :)_

**To Joe:**

**Morning!**

_From Joe:_

_Do you have classes today?_

**To Joe:**

**Nooooooopes ;)**

_From Joe:_

_I'm on my way over to pick you up then._

**To Joe:**

**STOP RIGHT THERE!**

_From Joe:_

_What? O_o_

**To Joe:**

**I'm not decent looking right now!**

_From Joe:_

_Demi, you're always beautiful._

**To Joe:**

**You're just saying that. Come in 2 hours?**

_From Joe:_

_Two hours?!?!_

**To Joe:**

**Hey, it takes girls time to look good. ;) I'll text you later baby.**

_From Joe:_

_Luv you._

**To Joe.**

**Love you too!**

Demi's phone slips from her fingertips and lands on her face, "why does this always happen to me?!" she couldn't help, but laugh at herself, the waves of giggles rumbling throughout her body.

~*~

Walking out of the bathroom, Miley's hair was wrapped tightly in a crisp white towel. She walks over to the fridge and pulls out of the packaged cupcakes that they had stashed in the back of the fridge. Ripping open the packaged cupcake, she nearly stuffs the whole thing into her mouth, throwing the wrapper onto the ground.

Demi watches her wide eyes, "slow down, Miley. I mean we have a whole box in there, you can take the time to chew before you swallow." She tells her while holding up the empty box of cupcakes to show that she had just refilled the fridge with new goodies.

"I'm just hungry, that's all," Miley snaps.

"And a whole lot bitchier too," Demi rolls her eyes and sets the box down on her bed. "God, what did Nick say to you?" she asks and grabs the trash Miley had strewn onto the floor, tossing it into the trash bin that sat no less than 5 feet away from where she stands.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Miley asks and looks at Demi.

"Ever since the morning that Nick called you on the phone, you've been in a fucked up mood and you've been taking it out on me. Apparently, Nick had to have said something to you to make you that way." Demi explains.

"I'm just stressing. Stupid calculus," Miley curses under her breath.

"Stressing so much that you've gotten sick three times in the past two weeks?" Demi wonders out loud.

"Yes Demi because my body is perfect like yours," Miley retorts as she strides over to her bed, dropping herself onto it.

Putting her hands up, Demi starts to back away, "I'm just going to walk away before you bite my head off, alright?"

Miley sighs, "Sorry. I don't know what's up with me lately. I'm just being bipolar right now." She said as she stared up at the ceiling, her eyes glassing over a bit with the emotional roller coaster that she had been riding on for the past few days.

"Right now?" Demi raises her eyebrows a bit. "You've been bipolar these past two weeks!"

Miley gives Demi a mean look, "thanks Demi, so much." She says sarcastically.

"You're welcome," Demi purposely shoots a cheeky grin over at Miley who just scowls venomously at her. "You're probably just about to start your period, that's probably why you've been so hungry all of a sudden—and moody," she says.

"You're probably right," Miley sighs. "I'm like 3 days late."

"Periods never seem to come on time, maybe you'll get yours tomorrow," Demi explains as she gets to her feet, stretching her limbs out a bit. "I have to get ready," she groans. "Joe said he'll be here soon…"

"When's soon?" Miley questions.

"Half an hour," Demi whines.

"Didn't you warn him about how long you take to get ready?" Miley asks with a laugh.

"Yeah, I even told him that I'd be two hours, but that was an hour and a half ago. I got lazy about getting ready, so I just sat here…" Demi laughed as well. "I'll just take a quick shower and not do my hair or something."

"Take your shower and I'll help you do your hair," Miley offers with a wry grin.

"Yes! I get _**the**_ Miley Stewart to do my hair, today is a good day," Demi pumps her fist in the air and soon, both girls are breaking out in a fit of giggles. "I'll just be 10 minutes, tops." She says as she walks into the bathroom.

"You better be!" Miley calls out after her before hearing the door click close. She pulls herself up from her bed and walks over to where she has her curling iron stashed. Quickly plugging it into the outlet, she let's the instrument heat up on her side table. To keep herself busy while Demi's in the bathroom, she decides to play around with her make-up a bit.

Demi walks out of the bathroom, her wet hair sticking to the back of her t-shirt. "Alright, how is this going to work, Mile? My hair is still dripping wet and Joe's gonna be here in about 20 minutes," she sighs.

"Well, first, you should probably blow dry your hair," Miley rolls her eyes and pushes Demi back into the bathroom. "And I can curl your hair while you're doing your make-up. See a compromise," she pokes Demi teasingly in the side of the head.

"Haha, you're so funny…" Demi sticks her tongue out at her and begins to dry her soaking wet hair.

--

"I think I hear Joe at the door," Miley says to Demi.

"Can you go get it? I just need to finish my right eye," Demi says as she turns around to look at Miley.

Miley clamps her hand over her mouth to try to stop laughing at how ridiculous Demi looked, "alright…" she let a few giggles slip through.

"Don't laugh at me," Demi whined and turned back to the mirror.

Miley opens the door to greet Joe, "hey Joe." She smiles.

"Hey Miles, Demi still isn't ready?" He asks in an amused tone as he steps into the girl's room to see various articles of clothing strewn across the floor. "Wow."

"She'll be out in a minute," Miley replies and re-enters the bathroom.

"Are you sure this looks alright?" Demi asks as she trails out of the bathroom and stops when she sees Joe sitting on her bed. She turns around to look at Miley, "you said he was waiting outside." She shoots Miley a mean glare.

"Yeah, waiting outside in our room," Miley laughs, "doesn't she look amazing Joe?" she asks as she twirls Demi around, watching as her dress twirled along with her.

"Yeah, beautiful," Joe murmured as he stood up and walked over to where Demi stood.

Demi's cheeks became warm quickly and she smiled, "do I look okay, Joey?" she asks.

"Perfect," Joe leans in and drops a kiss on her cheek.

Miley shakes her head, smiling at how adorable Joe and Demi were being to each other, "you guys don't wanna run late for your own date," she teased, tossing Demi's purse over to her. "Have fun." She grins.

--

A few hours later…

Dressed in a fresh white tank top and low-rise jeans, Miley's finds herself curled on her bed in a fetal position, "I wish Mother Nature would just come visit me already instead of making me feeling like this." She complained to herself. Leaning over she grabs her phone and instantly sends a text to Demi.

**To Demi:**

**I need you to get me something from the store please…**

_From Demi:_

_What is it Miles?_

**To Demi:**

**Can you get me some pickles and peanut butter?**

_From Demi:_

_Uhm, why?_

**To Demi:**

**I'm craving them.**

_From Demi:_

_Together?!_

**To Demi:**

**Yes.**

_From Demi:_

_You're so disgusting, Mi, but I still love you. Yeah, I'll just stop by at the store on my way home._

**To Demi: **

**Thank you!**

_From Demi: _

_Welcome. I'll ttyl._

**To Demi: **

**Kays, bye.**

"I swear your fingers were like lightning across your keyboard of your phone," Joe says as he watches Demi tap away fiercely.

Demi shakes her head and slips her phone back into her back pocket, "can we make a quick stop at the store before you drop me off tonight?" She asks as she moves her arm around his, linking them together. She lays her head onto his shoulder and they continue their walk around the park.

"Yeah, but why?" Joe wonders.

"Miley wants me to buy her some pickles and peanut butter," Demi answers with a slight laugh.

"Ew," Joe says with a chuckle.

"That's what I'm thinking," Demi shakes her head, a huge grin growing on her face. "Miles has been acting weird really lately… mood swings, cravings, sleeping so much, but she's still tired when she wakes up. Makes no sense," she sighs.

"Mhm, you girls are just weird," Joe murmurs jokingly as he kisses her ear.

"Psh, whatever," Demi scoffs.

Joe chuckles and snakes his arm around Demi's waist smoothly, bringing her body even closer to his, "I love you."

"I love you too, Joey," Demi whispers and drops a soft peck against his lips.

~*~

Miley stares blankly up at the ceiling of her dorm room again; the soft voice of Leona Lewis plays quietly in the background. She sighs and sits up, turning off the radio before learning over, reaching down to the floor blindly for her laptop. Pulling it up, she lifts it open and watches as the screen lights up; she drags the object into her lap and leans back against her pillows for support. Typing her username and password into AIM, she waits impatiently for her buddies list to pop up. Upon seeing his username, she clicks on it and opens up a video chat.

Nick's a bit stun when he sees the video chat invitation pop up on his laptop screen, but he still presses accept and waits as Miley's gorgeous face appears onto the screen.

"Hey," Miley breathes out with a small smile when she sees Nick's flawless face come into view.

"Hey," Nick answers just as breathless.

"How's that essay going?" Miley wonders as she moves around for a more comfortable spot. She brushes her bangs out of her face and stares at Nick as she waits for his answer.

"Great," Nick lies. "But I couldn't concentrate…" he admits sheepishly.

"Oh, why not?" Miley asks.

"Too busy thinking about a certain blue-eyed brunette," Nick answers with a grin.

Miley could feel the warmth flush into her cheeks and her heart flutter a bit as she replies back wittily, "and who is this blue-eyed brunette if you don't mind me asking?"

"I'm sure you've heard about her; she's mighty gorgeous and I'm pretty sure that if I was with her right now, I'd be getting myself lost into those beautiful eyes of hers," Nick says.

Miley's smile seems to widen, "I wish you could be here right now, Nick."

"Hmm, why's that?" Nick asks ponderingly.

"Because if you were here, I'd kiss you like there was no tomorrow," Miley whispers softly.

"I wish I could be there too," Nick answers.

"Soon?" Miley wonders hopefully.

"Soon," Nick nods with a smile.

Miley looks down at her keyboard momentarily, contemplating whether or not she should tell him she loved him, but she couldn't deal with him not saying it back to her again, so she glances back up to the screen to see Nick's eyes wide with a bit of curiosity.

"What's the matter?" Nick asks.

"Nothing," Miley answers and plasters a smile across her face again. "Just thinking about a certain curly-haired boy," she teases.

"Well, I'm sure this certain curly-haired boy would like you to know that he loves you," Nick says.

**a/n: If you haven't realized… I am horrible with updating my fanfiction stories, but hey, I'mma stop promising stuff because I know I'm getting people disappointed… I'm trying to map out what's going to happen with this story and how I want it to happen, but I keep running into blank ends… As for Rumors, wow, no update for 3 months? Sigh, I have about a third written so far, so I'm hoping to update that by Friday, but no promises, okay? Review please (: Thanks for still sticking around. Love you guys.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N at the bottom.**

_Twenty One_

**Chapter 13**

A bright smile breaks out across Miley's glowing face as she stares into the computer screen, "I love you too," she murmurs back earnestly.

Nick returns the smile and averts his eyes down to his keyboard after realizing that he was staring. It wasn't his fault that even through webcam, he still got mesmerized by those oceanic azure eyes of hers.

Hugging onto Joe's arm, Demi's soft brown eyes scan the jars of pickles in the aisle, "do you think she'll want kosher pickles or maybe the extra big ones?" Demi asks as she detaches herself from Joe to grab one of the jars.

Joe lets out a laugh, but quickly tries to cover it up, "how would I know if Miley likes her pickles big or not?" he asks, biting down on his lips as he shields another laugh from coming out.

"Oh, get your head out of the gutter," Demi swats her arm into Joe's stomach and shakes her head, a low laugh leaving her lips as well as she turns back to the jars of pickles, "I guess I'll get her the really big pickles…" she mumbles when she hears Joe snort from behind her one more. "Will you shush?" she laughs as she pushes the jar of pickles into his hands.

"Are you sure Miley didn't just want these?" Joe wonders as Demi skips down towards where the store had peanut butter and jelly.

"I showed you the text messages, Joe. She wants **both** pickles and peanut butter. Though, I have no idea what on earth she is thinking that those two things would ever taste good together," Demi's nose crinkles in disgust and she scans the different brands of peanut butter, "eh, this one's cheap… I don't think she'll notice." She says as she grabs a bottle.

"Wow, aren't you nice," Joe notes sarcastically.

"I know I am," Demi smiles and they make their way towards the cashier.

"I'll race you!" Joe calls out as he begins to run.

"That's not fair!" Demi scoffs as she watches Joe run off ahead of her, "you had a head start!" she pouts as she finally reaches where he stands in a line.

"It's okay… no need to be a sore loser, baby," Joe teases and drops a kiss on her forehead.

"Darn you and your stupid pickles," Demi mutters. She realizes what she had said, but before she could correct herself, Joe was bent over, dying in laughter as her cheeks redden into a crimson rose color; the other people in line along with the cashier staring at the two of them as if they had 3 heads. "Joe, just give the guy the pickles and peanut butter," she mutters through gritted teeth.

Miley moves a hand over her mouth, trying to muffle the sound of a yawn from escaping from her lips, "are you sure you should still be web-chatting with me, Nick?" She asks sleepily. It had been a good 3 hours since they had started talking and it escaped her mind how long it was taking Demi to come home from her date, but that didn't bother her… She was talking to Nick; nothing could take away the feeling she was feeling at the moment. Nothing.

Nick's eyes flicker to the corner of the screen and he gives her an apologetic grin. "I should probably start taking a crack at this research paper," he says disappointingly.

"Yeah…"

"Hey, go get your calendar," Nick says as he sits up straighter on his bed.

"My calendar? Why?" Miley inquires as she moves her laptop back a little and leans over to reach into the side drawer, pulling out her school agenda and dropping it down in front of her. She pulls her legs closer to herself and leans her chin against her knees, watching as Nick did the same.

"Do you have a pen?" Nick questions her.

"Yes, but how would I give it to you?" Miley teases as she grabs her favorite purple gel pen from the drawer as well.

Nick shoots her a playful glare, "I meant for yourself," he sticks her tongue out at her and brings the pen to his lips, gently pulling the lid off of the ball point pen he had in his hands, "I want you to circle January 2-7," he explains as he circles those numbers in his own agenda, glancing up to see Miley's confused expression. He notes how adorable her face looks as her nose crinkles in confusion and he glances down, his fingers toying with the pen. "Did you do it yet?"

"Yes…" Miley says slowly as she draws a big circle around those dates, "what's so special about January 2nd to the 7th?" she asks.

"Well, let's just say… I'm coming home on those dates," Nick looks up, chewing on his bottom lip momentarily as he notices how brightly Miley's azure orbs lighted up at his news.

"Are you serious?" Miley practically grasps her hands onto the sides of the laptop, giving it a small shake, her cheeks turning a crimson hue when she realizes she isn't really shaking Nick.

Nick chuckles, his soft chocolate brown curls shaking as the laughs shake through his body, "I see someone's really excited."

"Of course I'm not," Miley replies coolly.

"Even through webcam I can see that you're lying to me," Nick laughs as he hears the door open on Miley's side of the screen, hearing Demi's voice call out.

"Mi, I got your pickles and peanut butter!" Demi says, dropping her other things onto the floor, "who are you talking to?" she wonders as she leans over, "hey Nick!" she waves rapidly before turning to Miley, "so, where do you want me to put these?"

"Away," Miley says through gritted teeth, her cheeks burning a deep blaze.

Demi nods and walks off, not really noting she had just embarrassed Miley in front of Nick. "I'm going to call and get us some pizza, alright?"

"Yup." Miley calls back and turns back to Nick, running her hand through her hair—a habit she usually did to mask her embarrassment, "don't mind her…" she chuckles out quietly.

"Pickles… and peanut butter? Together?" Nick asks as his face contorts into disgust.

"I've just been craving weird things… it's just a girl thing," Miley said in defense, her face getting hot again.

"I figured," Nick joked and smiled cheekily at how flustered Miley was getting over this, "hey, I'll just let you have your fun with pickles—wait, that sounded wrong—" now it was his turn to turn bright red as a loud laugh escaped from Miley's throat and he can't help, but still break out into a smile at the sight of her, "I'll talk to you later," he mumbles out.

"Okay," Miley waves and grins before she exits out of the chat.

Nick does the same and opens up a new document on Microsoft word, blankly staring at the bright screen as he rakes his hand through his bed of curls, sighing, "now, I'm even more distracted." He whispers as he thinks about how Miley looked before she had signed out, trying his best to keep a memory of her beautiful face knowing it'd be a while before he would see it in person.

"So, web chat with the boy, huh?" Demi teases as she drops down on her bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"Yeah," Miley answers shyly.

"Well, what happened? Spill. This is the first time I've seen you actually smile or show emotion these past few weeks," Demi beams as she rolls over onto her side, putting her weight on her arm as she lays her head against her palm.

"There's nothing to spill!" Miley says as a laugh escapes her soft pink lips.

"Oh, come on!" Demi pleads as she breaks out into a smile as well, "there has to be a reason to why you're glowing all of a sudden," she says.

Miley's cheeks redden once more and she scowls softly at Demi, "we just talked, Demi… for the first time in forever without it being awkward. I felt like he was actually here with me." She murmurs.

"You're so smitten," Demi smirks.

"Me?" Miley scoffs, "you're the one that goes all mushy gushy when you get a text from Joe… and you're not the mushy gushy type of girl," she sticks her tongue out at the brunette, claiming victory at the slight blush creeping up onto Demi's cheeks.

"Shut up," Demi mumbles quietly, "you may have won this battle, but I'm going to win the war!" She exclaims as she jumps up, grabbing her pillows, and firing them at Miley's head.

"You maniac!" Miley bursts into giggles, grabbing her own pillow to shield her face.

A knock is heard from the door and Demi's head perks up and she jumps off of Miley and dashes towards the door, "PIZZA!" she exclaims and rips the door open, startling the pizza delivery person.

"Jeez, Demi, did you have to give the poor guy a heart attack?" Miley laughs as Demi walks towards her with the box of pizza. She inhales the aroma of the fresh pizza and fights back the urge to gag, "oh, my God… get that thing away from me," she presses her index finger and thumb to the bridge of her nose, squeezing it.

Demi's eyes widen and she walks towards the bed, "okay, something is seriously messed up with that stomach of yours," she jokes. "First, you want pickles _and _peanut butter together, and now you can't even stand the smell of pizza? Miley… have you gone mad on me?" she mock gasps.

"I don't know," Miley groans, moving her face away from Demi. "I've been in a weird funk lately and I hate it." Miley picks up her agenda from the end of the bed and continues to carelessly flip through the pages of her calendar, her fingers falling against some of the dates until she stops on a specific one—the date of her last period—which happened to be over a month and a half ago.

"What's with the face?" Demi inquires with her mouth full of pepperoni pizza. She leans over and tilts her head a little, reading the dates. "Damn, it's been a while since Mother Nature gave you a visit." She mumbles. "Lucky."

Miley isn't paying attention to what Demi is saying; silently, she counts back the days in her mind and her eyes widen in realization and she grasps her fingers firmly around the circumference of Demi's wrist, "w-we need to go to the store right now."

"I was just there… what else do you need? Jelly as well?" Demi jokes.

"No, a pregnancy test."

**a/n: Kajkdgha;khgk;h Late again? I know. Well, I've gotten a rush of ideas for this story and I know I say that I'll update sooner, but seriously, I WILL update sooner. Mark my words, lol. Reviews please? (:**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N at the bottom.**

_Twenty One_

**Chapter 14**

"A what?" Demi practically chokes on the piece of pizza that she's chewing on. She slaps her hand across her chest, trying her best to swallow the piece whole before waving her hands around, "where's my soda?"

"Over there. . ." Miley says in a low whisper.

Demi picks the can up and takes a long sip before setting it down and inhaling a deep breath, "a pregnancy test?" she exclaims again as she her darn eyes graze intently at Miley.

"I—my period is late by like two weeks now," Miley answers in a croak, handing her agenda over to Demi as she stands up, holding her head as the rush of blind comes and she groans in pain, her eyesight drabbling away from her for a mere few seconds, "how could I have been so oblivious to all the signs? Oh, my God. . ."

"Miley, calm down . . . sometimes, our periods are irregular, it's normal," Demi says.

Miley reaches for her bright pink Navy blue Abercrombie and Fitch sweater, sliding it over her head as she pulls on her favorite pairs of sneakers, "Demi, get dressed. We got to go buy a test," she mumbles silently, turning away to look for some pants to wear.

"Miles, did you hear what I just said—"

Miley cuts Demi off, turning to face her best friend curtly, "I heard what you said, I would agree, but Nick and I had sex a month and a half ago before he left to go back to school in Boston," she explains. "Now can you please just get ready, so we can go?" Her voice falters and she shoots Demi a weak look.

Demi nods in understanding and proceeds to get ready; she turns to look at Miley, who was sitting silently on her bed, toying with her fingers and her phone. "Miles. . ."

"Can we not talk about it until I get the test?" Miley asks.

"Uh. Yeah, let's go," Demi grabs her hand bag just in case and walks over to Miley, offering her hand out for Miley to grab, "come on, Miles."

Miley's azure irises glance up at Demi's hand and she places her hand securely in hers, sighing heavily as Demi pulls her up and into a tight embrace.

Miley moves the test over to the side of the sink as she grazes her hands under the cool running water, rinsing her hands off. She grabs a small loin cloth and dries her hands off, sighing a little as she walks out to greet Demi who was lying across her bed, "I guess now we wait," she says and lays down across Demi's lap.

"So, while we wait. . ." Demi sifts her fingers through Miley's smooth locks, staring down at her best friend, "you want to explain to me what exactly happened between you and Nick before you came back?"

"I think you already know," Miley says, her cheeks flustering into a crimson rosy hue, "Nick and I weren't really on the same page for the first few days of Thanksgiving. . . I was so distant with everyone, even my dad, and I knew right then that there was something wrong. I could eat, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't think. I uh, thought Nick wouldn't be coming to visit me like he had promised all those years for my birthday, so I decided to celebrate by myself. . . I'm not sure what happened, but the next day, I woke up naked with Nick by my side, naked as well," her cheeks flush again.

"Kids," Demi scoffs a bit as a soft giggle leaves Miley's lips and she nods, wanting her to continue.

"He apologized, but I felt so embarrassed that he had to see me the way he did and I just avoided him, rejecting him every time he came over and tried to explain. I was just so afraid, but then a few days before he and I had to leave to come back to college, I was going to go for a walk, but he met me at the door and followed after me and things sort of just turned around and we were okay again. We made love with each other over and over and over—"

"I get it," Demi scrunches her face in disgust, "please go on."

Miley laughs, but the laughter quickly dissolves as she continues her story, "then he told me he just wanted us to be friends and it was like my heart had been stomped on all over again and I couldn't take it and I accused him of not loving me, which was probably the stupidest thing I had ever done, but he said that he truly did love me and I guess that was enough, but now all of this, and I don't know what I'm going to do if I _am_ pregnant," she rubs her hand over her face, groaning into it.

"Don't assume, Mi. You don't know what's going to happen until you see what the results are from the test," Demi continues to lace her fingers through Miley's hair, giving her a sympathetic smile, "for all we know, this could be a pregnancy scare," she tells her reassuringly.

Mikayla drops a few knocks onto Nick's door, glancing around as she spots Jake walking down the hallway, "open the door, Nick. . . open the door," she mumbles to herself, growing a bit more fidgety.

"Hey, I didn't know—"

Mikayla practically runs insides and pushes Nick away from the door being slamming it close, "that was really close," she sighs a breath of relief and sets the box of pizza onto Nick's desk.

"Hello to you too, weird one." Nick laughs and walks back over to his bed, pulling the laptop into his lap.

Mikayla rests a hand on her hip, "you're not still aren't web-camming people right now, are you?" she asks.

"No, mother, I'm working on this stupid research paper that I would've finished days ago if someone here would've let me glance at theirs," Nick huffs out.

"Right, glancing as in copying," Mikayla rolls her eyes, "why don't you take a rest and eat pizza?" she asks, lifting the lid up a bit as she takes in the aroma of pizza, "mhm, fat." She picks a slice up, passing it along from her left to right hand as she blows onto it lightly before taking a small bite.

"As much as I want to, I have to finish this first. Why exactly are you here, except to bring me some food?" Nick wonders, typing away before pressing the backspace button a few times.

"I came to pick up your laundry," Mikayla mumbles limply before taking another bite of her pizza.

Nick breaks out into a contagious laugh, snorting a bit as he looks over at Mikayla who was glaring at him, "it wasn't my fault you made the stupid bet," he chuckles once more and looks over at the page on his bed, "I really hate this paper."

Mikayla's eyes light up, "how about I write your research paper for you?" She suggests.

"What's the catch?" Nick's luscious chocolate marbles glaze over to look at Mikayla.

"There is so catch!" Mikayla says in defense.

"Knowing you, there is." Nick counters.

"If I write your research paper, I get let off the hook for doing your laundry."

"No deal."

"Come on," Mikayla walks over to where Nick is sprawled across his bed and peeks over, looking at his laptop screen, "you only have like 2 pages done. . . at this rate, you won't be finished until morning time."

Knowing Mikayla was right, Nick groans and sighs, "fine." He moves his laptop off of his lap and hands it to her, "get it back here by 6 tomorrow morning." He says.

"Yes!" Mikayla pumps her fist in the air, "just leave your laptop on your bed. I'll get it on my way out," she begins to dance around, "I am SO happy I don't have to touch your sports gear."

"Yeah, yeah," Nick stretches a little, his limbs relaxing as he gets up from his bed and walks over to the box of pizza, grabbing two large slices and takes a good size bite.

Mikayla stops dancing and finishes off her pizza, chewing as her head tilts to the side, noticing the various duffle bugs that Nick had out, "where are you going?" she inquires.

"Huh?" Nick asks with his mouth full, turning to look at her.

Mikayla nods towards the duffle bags, "are you moving out or something?"

"No, I'm just getting packed and stuff to go visit Miley and my dad again for New Year's," Nick explains as he takes another good sized bite of pizza, swiping his hand across his face.

"There's napkins over there," Mikayla points out as she rolls her eyes at Nick's boyish manners, "and oh, so, you'll be gone for New Years?" she asks in disappointment. She and Nick had spent New Years together since they had met each other Freshman year.

"No, I'll be here New Year's day, but my flight leaves New Year's night," Nick explains, grabbing a handful of napkins and smushing them over his face.

"Ugh," Mikayla walks over and grabs the handful of napkins away from him, dropping a few of them onto the table and grabbing one, wiping it over Nick's lips, "why must you complicate everything?" She laughs, looking into his soft eyes.

Nick sticks his tongue out at her and moves his face away from the napkin, "thanks. . . and why are you asking so many questions? Is someone going to miss me while I'm gone?" he teases with a grin.

"No!" Mikayla immediately says.

"You could always come with me, you know," Nick shrugs lazily at his own suggestion.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean if you want," Nick adds in.

"Uhm, yeah, sure!" Mikayla answers bluntly. "I mean, I've been wanting to meet Miley ever since you showed me that ring you were going to give her," she beams gleefully.

"Yeah, the ring. . ." Nick utters in a whisper, his eyes moving around to spot the velvet box sitting beside the pizza box.

Noting Nick's change of voice, Mikayla's smile falters a bit as well, "sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up—"

"No, it's not your fault. It's my own fault," Nick chuckles out weakly. "Who knows . . . maybe I'll be able to ask her this time for sure on this trip," he shrugs once more.

"Yeah, hopefully," Mikayla whispers, another strange feeling panging at her heart.

"Enough of this depressing mood," Nick shakes his head a bit, his eyes landing on his laptop, "someone has a research paper to write," he says with a smug smile.

"Ugh, shut up." Mikayla rolls her eyes, but a bright smile etches itself onto her face.

"What's this beeping noise I keep hearing?" Demi asks as she and Miley quiet down to listen.

"The test!" Miley scrambles off of Demi and leaps up, nearly tripping over her own feet as she makes a beeline towards the bathroom.

"Jesus, don't hurt yourself in there, Miley!" Demi laughs as she gets up and walks into the bathroom as well. She notices Miley staring intently at the test and she leans against the doorway, "what does it say?" she asks in a whisper.

"I'm. . ."

**a/n: WHOA. Such a soon update? So, I'm not really sure where this plot is going anymore because I honestly don't know what I want to happen, haha, but I sort of have a picture of what I want to happen, but I have a feeling that it won't come out the way I want it to because honestly, this is not how I wanted the story to turn out, but that always happens to me and my stories, but whatever I choose to happen to Miley in the next chapter is what is gonna sculpt the rest of the plot, so yay, touch decision for me. Do you think she's pregnant or no? Haha, now. . . I'm just rambling, so uhm, reviews? Haha, I'm hoping for another update by Monday. :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I FAILED.**

_Twenty One_

**Chapter 15**

"Come on, Miles!" Demi whines, tugging the covers off of Miley and wrapping her hands around the circumference of Miley's ankles, getting ready to pull her out of bed.

Miley groans, reaching her hands to grasp the headboard tightly, "I don't want to get up, Demi. I'm still tired from New Years last night . . ." she groans, snuggling her head into her cotton pillow more.

"How in the world are you tired? You left the rest of us in the lobby and went to bed at 9, you didn't even stay up for the New Year," Demi snorts slightly, securing her hands around Miley's ankles again, "come on, did you forget? Someone's coming to visit you today!" she pulls Miley's leg, not getting her to budge an inch.

"I'm tired, let me sleeeeeeep," Miley complains, kicking her feet a bit, struggling to get them out of Demi's grasp.

"Come on, you're not the one hung-over right now," Demi huffs, dropping Miley's ankles and pushing her hair behind her ears. I'm going to shower and help you get ready for your _date _with Nicholas.

"It's not a date!" Miley grumbles into the pillow, flipping over and letting her fingers skim across her exposed stomach. She drags her tank down, pulling the covers from the floor, draping them over her shoulders and sinking deeper into her sheets, "mhm," she mumbles tiredly.

**-TWENTY ONE-**

Mikayla tries to shake off her nerves as she and Nick enter the terminal of the airport, placing their belongings up for inspection as they step through the security wing, "Nick . . ."

"What?" Nick glances at her skeptically, staring at his ticket and up at the board, checking for their boarding time.

"I probably should have mentioned this a few days ago, but . . . I've never ridden on a plane before and I'm afraid of heights," she stands there stiff as a board as she stares at him.

Nick looks up from his ticket, realizing just how frightened she looked, "do you want to go back to school? We still have a good hour before the plane actually leaves and I don't want you to feel like I'm forcing you to come with me . . ."

"No, I want to go . . . I just don't want you to think that I'm a weirdo when I'm on the plane and I randomly jump, scream, or yell," Mikayla tells him sheepishly, her cheeks flushing a soft pink glow.

"I wouldn't make fun of you . . ." Nick answers, earning a look from Mikayla; he drops his voice a bit, "okay, maybe I would have, but I won't now that you told me," he tells her with a sloppy grin.

Mikayla rolls her eyes playfully at his answer, "thanks, I guess."

"I was just kidding around, Miki. Don't be such a party pooper." Nick drapes an arm around her shoulder, leading her towards the chairs in the waiting area, "aren't you excited?"

"Duh. I'm going to California for the first time ever. Of course I'm excited," Mikayla gushes. "And I finally get to meet your dad, and Miss Miley who you can't stop talking about," she nudges his arm, "are _you _excited to be going home?" She inquires.

A foolish grin appears on Nick's face and he moves his arm away from Mikayla, dropping his hands into his lap, "yeah, of course I am . . . I feel like something's good is going to happen when I get there," he shrugs limply, "my _feelings_ never seem to be right though," he chuckles, his dark, luminous eyes glazing away to stare at the people passing by.

"Wow, you actually sort of looked like you had feelings right there," she jokes.

"Hah, you're so funny." Nick says.

"I know," Mikayla pipes in before sinking into her seat, pulling her coat closer to her thin frame as she glances over at him, memorizing just how happy he looked with that grin painted on his face and how she was the one who had put it on him, "I love you," she blurts out.

"I love you too," Nick laughs, confused to her sudden outburst, "that was really random, Miki."

"Well, it seems like I don't tell my best friend I love him enough. Is there a crime with doing that?" She questions, her eyebrow arching up playfully as she smiles.

"I guess not . . ." he sighs, leaning back into his chair. "You've been acting a lot more smiley lately, is there a new guy I should be interrogating?" his eyebrow arches up as a smirk plays on his features.

Mikayla scoffs, "if there was a guy, which there isn't," she emphasizes, "you would've met him by now."

"Mhm, right. You may be my best friend, but I know you keep things from you."

"Well, thanks." Mikayla slaps her hand across his shoulder, laughing at his playful banter. "It's nice to know that you trust me, Nick."

"I know."

**-T W E N T Y O N E-**

"Mileeeeeey!" Demi calls out, walking out from the bathroom, clad in only a magenta colored towel, "I told you to be ready when I come out," she sighs, walking over to Miley's bed and peeling the covers off of her again.

"Why are you so excited to go?" Miley groans, curling up into a ball, trying to bring some heat to her freezing body.

"Miley, it's been over two months since you've seen Nick in person, I thought you'd be a bit more thrilled than this," Demi's voice drops lower and she takes a seat down on the bed, "what's wrong?"

"I don't know," Miley whispers airily, "I just feel like today's not going to be a good day," she continues, snuggling into the pillow and looking up at Demi with exhausted eyes, "and I feel completely horrible right now."

"Come on. Maybe a shower and some coffee will make you feel better," Demi encourages and helps Miley sit up.

"Fine," Miley huffs and crawls out of bed, stretching her arms up above her head before slumping her shoulders, walking over to the closet and grabbing her towel and a pair of undergarments to change into, "I'll be out in 10 minutes or so."

"Take your time!" Demi calls out, her head hidden in the closet, trying to reach her favorite pair of heels at the top. Holding the towel tighter to her moist body, she pulls the shoebox down, smiling at the sight of her shoes, "Miley are going to love these . . ." Dropping her towel, she pulls on her bra and underwear, tapping her chin gently, deciding between which dress she should wear to the 'reunion.' Deciding on a dark plum colored strapless dress; she also grabs her black leather jacket to go along with it.

Pulling the dress on, she drops her jacket onto Miley's bed, grabbing the necessary items she needs to do her hair. She hears Miley humming loudly in the shower and smiles, dragging the brush through her tangled mane, plugging the curling iron into the outlet before walking over to grab her make-up bag.

Miley walks out of the bathroom, dressed in just her undergarments, towel wrapped tightly around her damp waves. She glances over at Demi, a frown bellowing onto her features, "you're going to wear a dress?" she inquires.

"Yeah, aren't you . . .?" A flash of confusion washes over Demi's lips as she stares Miley down. "Don't tell me you were planning to just go in a pair of jeans and a t shirt." Miley doesn't answer, so she takes that as a yes. "You do know that we might go out to dinner, right?"

"Might being the key word, Dem." Miley responds.

"Yeah, so it's better to be overdressed than underdressed," Demi counters.

"I don't even think Nick cares what I'm going to be dressed in." Miley retaliates.

"If you don't wear a dress, then I don't wear a dress," Demi says simply.

"But you're already in your dress; why can't I just not wear a dress?" Miley asks.

"Because unlike your 'bad' feeling, I feel like something good is going to happen today," Demi grins, "and when that good moment happens, I want you to be dressed up nicely."

"You don't even know if your hunch is going to happen," Miley argues, but pulls out one of her favorite dresses, spotting Demi's shoes in the corner on the floor, "it's like you knew I'd give in," she mutters.

"I just know you," Demi answers and turns back to finish doing her eye make-up.

Miley sighs and unwraps the towel from her hair, dropping it onto the floor as she slips on the dress, loving the feeling of how the dress clung to her curves in all the right places; fixing the straps of the dress a bit, she picks the towel up and drops it into the hamper. Running her fingertips through her hair, she walks over and stands beside Demi, a small smile forming on her lips.

"What are you smiling about?" Demi asks curiously, lining the waterline of her eyes with charcoal colored eyeliner. She finishes and turns to look at Miley, "Mi?" She waves a hand over her eyes a few times.

"I get to see Nick today," Miley says in a giddy tone, biting down onto her bottom lip.

Demi shakes her head a bit, a smile growing on her porcelain face, "I told you a shower would make you feel better."

"Yes, yes, another 'I told you so,'" Miley groans and grabs the curling iron from the table.

"Careful—"

"Shit!" Miley drops the curling iron, squeezing her hand tightly as she runs into the bathroom, "why didn't you warn me?" she cries out, the sound of running water drowning out her voice.

"Sorry," Demi screams out sheepishly, "so, I take it that you don't want to curl your hair anymore?"

**-T W E N T Y O N E-**

Nick awakes from his nap, looking around warily to realize that he's still in the plane and the attendant was explaining that they were going to land in a few minutes. He shifts a bit and feels Mikayla's head on his shoulder, still sleeping soundly. He gently moves her head away from his shoulder, shaking her, "Miki, we're about to land . . ."

Mikayla stirs a bit, her eyelashes fluttering a bit as she opens them, revealing her big, chocolate brown marbles, "what?" she asks groggily.

"We're about to land in Los Angeles," Nick smiles.

Mikayla glances past him and looks out the window, the sun barely setting as a smile grows on her face as well, "it's like we just time traveled back into the past . . . if that makes any sense," she laughs.

"Perfect sense," Nick tells her sarcastically as the plane comes to a halt and he stands up, immediately pulling out his phone and turning it on, a new message waiting for him from an unknown number.

**Hey, it's Demi. Miley's roommate. We're all going out to dinner at The Grove and we were hoping that you could meet us there. Call me when you get this message.**

Mikayla grabs her and Nick's belongings from the compartment above, looking at Nick skeptically to see him glued to his phone, "couldn't even last a simple plane ride without your phone? Come on, you can call whoever when we get off the plane itself," she latches her hand around his wrist, pulling him along behind her.

As soon as his feet land down on the ground, he dials the number in the message he got, bringing his phone up to his ear as Mikayla leads him to get their bags, "hey, uh, Demi?" he asks, racking his brain to remember the girl's name.

"Oh, hey Nick," Demi's voice drops down to a whisper. "I'm going to guess you just landed in LA?"

"Yeah," Nick replies, "is everyone with you right now?"

"No, I'm still in my room with Miley. We're about to leave; I just wanted to make sure that you'd be there on time. I wasn't sure when exactly you would land." She explains.

"Yeah, thanks for telling me. I'll be on my way over there right now," he says.

"Alright, I'll see you then. Bye."

Extracting the phone away from his ear, Nick slips it back into his pocket in time to see Mikayla lugging over her bags towards him, "so, where exactly are we staying?" she asks.

Grabbing some of the bags, Nick moves his hand to the small of her back, leading her outside and towards a cab, "well, first we're going to go to my dad's house and just drop our things off, and then we're meeting up with everyone for dinner."

"Dinner?" Mikayla asks, "you're the only person I know here, Nick and you want me to go to dinner with everyone?"

"Yes," Nick answers bluntly. "I'm sure you'll be fine. You and Miley are going to hit it off, trust me." He shoots her a reassuring smile, opening the door for her to get into the taxi.

Mikayla gives him a weak smile, sliding into the backseat of the car. The car ride to Nick's dad's house is quiet, but comfortable. She's toying with her fingers as she peers out the window, taking in the beautiful of the city that she's dreamt of visiting since from as long as she could remember. Suddenly, the car is slowing down and she turns to see Nick unbuckling his seat belt, so she does so as well. Stepping out of the car, she automatically goes towards the trunk, but Nick had beaten her taking out their belongings. She grabs her things from him and trail behind him towards the front of the house.

"Seems like my dad already left to the restaurant along with Miley's dad," Nick notes, glancing over to the empty driveway in the house next door. He digs through his pocket and pulls out a spare key, slipping it into the lock and pushing the door open, "uh, there's a guest bedroom upstairs, third door to the left," he tells Mikayla as he bustles to bring everything inside.

"Kay . . ." Mikayla answers, heading up the stairs. Halfway there, she turns to look at Nick, who at the same time turned to look up at her, "I don't exactly have a dress to wear to the restaurant," she tells him.

"Uhm, I think Miley's left one of her dresses upstairs in the room, you can go try and see if you can fit it," Nick answers, walking up the stairs and helping her with her things. He sets her bags in the room, watching as Mikayla went into the closet, coming out a few minutes later, "is it okay?"

"It's a bit loose on me, but I think I'll survive," Mikayla shoots him a small grin, "are you going to change?"

"Oh yeah, right. I'll meet you downstairs in a second." Nick says as he leaves the room and heads towards his own. Quickly stripping himself of his v neck, he pulls out a crisp white button-down shirt, spraying some cologne on before dashing out the door, grabbing the key off the rack and heading towards the garage, "Mikayla!" he calls out.

"Coming, I'm coming!" She nearly trips down the stairs, but catches herself, fixing her composure, tucking a loose hair behind her ear, "do you think this is decent?" she asks.

Nick's eyes flicker up and down her body for a second and nods, "you bring heels, but you don't bring a dress?" he lets out a small chuckle and leads her into the garage.

"I like dressing up a simple outfit!" Mikayla defends and slips into the passenger seat of his car.

"Whatever you say . . . Girls," he scoffs, pulling out of the driveway and heading towards the restaurant.

"Don't scoff when you say girls," Mikayla gawks, slapping her hand across his shoulder again, "jeez, and to think I thought you were respectful," she teases.

"Yeah, yeah, mother," Nick jokes, his hand landing on the knob of the radio, turning up the music in the car.

**-T W E N T Y O N E-**

"So, who were you on the phone with earlier?" Miley asks Demi as she pulls out a chair, sliding into it. "Hey daddy," she greets, leaning over and giving him a quick peck before waving hello to Nick's dad.

"Uhm, no one important," Demi smiles, saying hello to everyone at the table as she slides into the seat on Miley's right, Joe taking a seat beside her as well.

Miley shrugs lightly and her beaming oceanic irises travel around the restaurant, stopping when she sees the door open and Nick walking in. A smile draws itself onto her face, but as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared when her eyes moved down to see Nick's hand wrapped around another person's hand—that person being a girl. Her eyes seem to widen when she realizes that girl is wearing her dress as well, obviously because it seems a bit to big to fit onto her thin frame. Her eyes flicker away from Nick as he approaches the table and suddenly, she felt like she was going to be sick.

"Hey," Nick breathes out, his breath catching in his throat at the sight of how flawless Miley looked before him, but his face falters as he sees tears collect in her usually bright eyes, and now he's confused.

**a/n: Bah, I am a failure because I didn't update when I said I would, but yeah, I got writer's block again, but suddenly, a gush of ideas ran through my head and I have the entire next chapter mapped out in my head. Don't you love how I didn't say if Miley was or wasn't pregnant in this chapter? Haha, but yeah, hopefully, that will be revealed in the next chapter. Reviews? Thanks so much!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: HELLO. :)**

_Twenty One_

**Chapter 16**

"Mi?" Nick whispers, staring down at her, "what's wrong?" he asks her gently.

"Nothing," Miley clears her throat and turns, her hair falling over her shoulder and blocking Nick's gaze at her. She ducks her head down, staring down at the porcelain plate sitting in front of her. She hears chairs sliding and she can feel Nick's presence beside her, but she looks up, plastering a fake smile to everyone around the table, not daring to turn to her right side, giving Nick the cold shoulder.

Mikayla stands in the background awkwardly, not sure what she should be doing, so she sits down in the seat on the right of Nick.

A while later, everyone was settled down with their food in front of them, eating and socializing with one another; Billy Ray and Paul were engaged in a conversation about the latest sports game playing last night. Demi and Joe were arguing childishly over who had won the last Thumb War session. Miley, Nick, and Mikayla ate their dinners quietly, none of them uttering out a word.

"So," Demi breaks the silence suddenly, turning away from Joe and leaning towards Miley, "I'm Demi," she introduces, a bright smile forming on her bright lips as she smiles towards Nick and Mikayla.

"Nick," Nick says with a soft smile of his own as he sneaks a glance at Miley.

"Mikayla," the brunette adds in gently.

"It's nice to meet you two," Demi tells them politely, nudging Miley's arm softly, "can I talk to you for a second?"

"I'm not really done with my dinner," Miley protests, her big blue eyes grazing over to look at Demi.

Demi's gaze shifts down to Miley's plate. Miley had barely touched her food, things were a bit scrambled since Miley continuously swirled her fork around, but other than that, her entire meal was in tact and untouched. She curves her eyebrow and shoots Miley a look, "wow, you've eaten so much," she says sardonically.

Miley's fingers grip around her glass cup firmly, bringing it to her lips as she takes a greedy sip, "fine." She huffs gently. She takes this as her opportunity to look over at Nick who was staring back at her with his warm, curious brown eyes. Her eyes flicker over to Selena for a quick second before she ducks her head once more, pushing up and out of her seat.

"We'll just be a minute," Demi tells the table and encircles her hand softly around Miley's wrist, tugging her towards the exit of the restaurant.

Miley's eyes slip close, inhaling lightly at the breeze flowing through her perfectly done curls. Her eyes open, staring directly into Demi's confused brown ones, "what?" she breathes out.

"What happened in there? One minute you were looked so happy and the next, you looked so broken . . . I thought you would've been jumping into Nick's arms the moment he walked in through these doors," Demi explains, referring to the two glass doors behind her.

Miley shrugs nonchalantly, "I guess my mood just dropped," she answers.

"Is it because of Mikayla?" Demi inquires, finally connecting the dots.

"No, why would I let a complete stranger bring down my mood, Dem? That makes no sense," Miley explains, failing to bring up a smile onto her face unconvincingly.

"You want to try that again?" Demi asks, seeing through Miley's lie.

Miley shakes her head slightly, her eyes moving down to Demi's high heels that she was wearing, "can we just go inside? I don't feel like being the killjoy to Nick's welcome back dinner. We can talk about this when we go home or something," she eggs on, hoping that Demi would agree and just drop the subject for now.

"Alright," Demi says reluctantly, "but the minute we're in our room, you're spilling your guts." She says firmly before pushing the door open and walking back towards the table.

"You okay babe?" Joe wonders.

"Yeah, we're good." Demi smiles and leans in, pecking his lips lightly and intertwining their hands under the table.

Miley slips back into her seat, staring tentatively at the table cloth.

"Mi," Nick urges once more, but gets cut off by Billy Ray's voice.

"It looks like everyone is finished eating. How about we skip dessert and just head back to my place and we'll serve some old-fashion vanilla ice cream?" he suggests, a bright smile glowing on his face as his eyes travel around the table.

Everyone chimes in, agreeing to Billy Ray's offer. The five teens stand awkwardly by the exit as Paul and Billy Ray dispute over who gets to pay the full bill for the group's dinner. Eventually, they split and they're all exiting the restaurant.

"Alright, who is riding with who?" Paul asks, placing a hand onto Billy Ray's shoulder.

"Hey Mi, Joe and I are thinking about just heading home for the night. Thanks so much for the dinner though Mr. Gray and Mr. Stewart," Demi smiles warmly at the two men before moving her eyes towards Miley, "are you coming with?"

"Uhm," Miley's eyes dart around at the remaining crowd, not really sure who to go with, "I think I'll just stay at my dad's for the night . . . it's been a while since I've gone home," she tells Demi.

"Alright, I'll talk to you tomorrow," Demi leans in, giving Miley an earnest hug, "you're not getting off the hook with telling me what's wrong," she whispers into Miley's ear and pulls away, waving good-bye to everyone else.

"Night!" Joe calls out before draping an arm around Demi's waist and leading her towards his car. "What was up with Miley tonight?" he asks quietly, unlocking the car and holding the passenger door open for her.

"I think she just misses Nick," Demi says, sliding into her seat. She waits for Joe to walk around the car and slide into the driver's seat, "I'll talk to her about it tomorrow." She says.

"Or late tonight," Joe adds in.

"You know me so well," Demi smiles cheekily, leaning over and placing a chaste kiss onto his cheek, "I love you."

"I love you too," Joe smiles and starts the ignition of the car, "do you want to head home or just drive around for a while?"

"Drive around . . . let's just talk," Demi suggests, smiling warmly at him.

**twentyonetwentyonetwentyone**

"Okay, so you kids are all riding in Nick's car back to—"

"I'll ride with you, daddy," Miley cuts in, walking towards Paul and her dad.

"I thought you would've wanted to ride with Nick, to you know catch up . . ." Billy Ray's sentence drags off as Miley shoots him a look and he nods, "yeah, Miley will just ride with us and we will all just meet up at our place, alright?"

Nick nods, understanding the plan as his chocolate marbles set on Miley's retreating figure. He shakes out of his gaze and turns to Mikayla, "did you have a good time at dinner?" he asks, leading her back to his car.

"It was awkward, but it was really nice," Mikayla tells him modestly.

"I'm sorry I didn't really say much . . . I guess my mind was just somewhere else." Nick tells her as they reach the car.

Mikayla nods and gets into the car, buckling herself up, "Miley was really quiet. I didn't really expect that from all that you've told me these past few weeks," she says quietly as Nick starts up the car.

"Yeah," Nick turns to look at Mikayla, "it sort of surprised me too, but I'll just catch up with her later about it," he says, pulling away from the curb and following after Billy Ray's truck. He could easily make out Miley's figure in the backseat of the car and a frown etches itself onto his think lips. What was wrong with Miley? He would've thought she would be excited at his homecoming, but he guessed there was just a change in emotions.

**twentyonetwentyonetwentyone**

Miley leans onto her hand, staring out the window at the bright lights coming off the neon signs of the restaurants they were driving by. She tuned out her dad and Paul's conversation on college football, sighing mildly as she tries to decipher the reasons to why Nick would bring Mikayla back to home with him—and better yet, why she was draped in _her_ dress. Before she could collect up her thoughts, her dad was pulling into the driveway of her childhood home.

Before Billy Ray had turned off the engine, Miley was pushing the door open and stepping out, "whoa, bud, careful. Next time wait until I shut the car off completely," he laughs, sharing another round of laughter with Paul.

"Okay," Miley croaks out, stepping down, shielding her eyes as Nick's headlights shine in her eyes, watching as he pulled up to the curve. She starts towards the door, tapping her foot impatiently as her dad takes his time opening up the front door.

"Where's the rush Miles?" Billy Ray chuckles, watching his daughter make a beeline towards her bedroom.

"Hey Nick," Mikayla says softly when they get out of the car, "do you think you could just let me inside to your dad's house? I'm sort of still tired from the flight and all," she lies. "I just want to head off to bed," she says.

"You sure you don't want some ice cream first?" Nick asks, knitting his eyebrows together for a moment.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Mikayla pushes a smile onto her face, sighing in relief when Nick begins to cross the lawn over to his house, "if you get lonely, just head on over okay?" he says.

"Kay. Goodnight Nick," Mikayla whispers, leaning in and wrapping her arms around him.

Nick hugs her back and releases, making sure she made it up the stairs safely.

Mikayla walks up the stairs, flipping the lights on in the guest bedroom and walking towards her suitcase. She slips out of Miley's dress and slips on an old band t shirt and a pair of flannel shorts. She walks into the bathroom and washes her face, letting her hair out of its pony tail and ruffling her locks a bit. She quickly brushes her teeth and yawns, moving a hand over her mouth and exiting the bathroom. She frowns slightly and climbs into bed, pulling the covers up to her chin as she lies flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling. Her mind seemed to be preoccupied with Nick—just like it always was. She leaned over, clicking the lamp off and snuggling into the pillows, catching the scent of Nick before drifting off to sleep.

**twentyonetwentyonetwentyone**

Slipping the door close and walking back across the lawn and into the Stewart household. Nick's eyes first travel to the kitchen where he spots Billy Ray and his father setting up the bowls and taking out the ice cream from the refrigerator. "Where's Miley?" he asks automatically.

Billy Ray's dull blue eyes snap up to meet Nick's gaze, "I didn't hear you enter the house son. Miley's up in her room. Do you two want to eat your desserts upstairs?" he asks, scooping ice cream into two bowls for Nick to take up to Miley.

"Yeah, okay," Nick answers, grabbing the spoons his dad was handing to him and sticking them into the bowls of ice cream before thanking Billy Ray and heading up the stairs of the house he spent all his summers at. "Miles?" He gently taps her bedroom door with the tip of his foot, waiting patiently as he heard the door click unlock and Miley open the door, "I have ice cream," he smiles warmly at him.

Miley grabs one of the bowls and opens the door wider, letting Nick walk in, "Mikayla's not with you?" she asks in a mumble, shutting the door and trudging over to her bed and placing the bowl of ice cream onto the table next to her.

"She went to go sleep," Nick responds and sits down besides her, "you're not going to eat?"

"I'm not really hungry," Miley answers and stares down at her hands, toying with her fingers.

Nick leans over, placing his bowl down besides her, and they sit in a comfortable silence before he speaks up, "what was wrong earlier?"

"Nothing," Miley answers simply, not daring to look at him, knowing he could see through her the moment she does.

"Mi," Nick whispers, curling his finger under her chin and guiding her eyes to look into his, "that wasn't nothing . . . you were on the verge of tears, just like you are now," he says in observation, sweeping his other hand across her cheeks to catch the stray tear rolling down her face. "What's causing my Smiley to be not so smiley?" he pushes her bangs out of her face, tucking them securely behind her ear.

"I just missed you," Miley whispers, moving her arms around his neck.

Nick holds her in his arms, pulling her into his lap, so that she was straddling him. "I missed you too, Mi. So much,: he breathes against her neck.

Miley shifts back, her pools of blue gazing lovingly into Nick's mocha marbles; her eyes trail down to his lips, but quickly up towards his eyes again, "why . . .?"

"Why what?" Nick asks, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Why did you bring Mikayla?" Miley's voice falters and her attention moves down to the buttons on Nick's shirt.

"She's my best friend—"

Miley feels those words slice through her heart and she winces, biting down onto her bottom lip lightly.

Nick hadn't caught onto Miley's gesture and continues on, "and she's always wanted to come to California and she wanted to meet you, so I thought it'd be a great idea to bring her down, so the two of you could just get to know one another," he smiles.

Miley's expression doesn't change, but she slowly brings her eyes back up to stare at Nick's, "oh," was all she could muster out.

"A-are you jealous of Mikayla?" Nick asks, amusement dancing around in his chocolate orbs.

"No," Miley says curtly, furrowing her eyebrows and turning her head away to look at the bowls of melting ice cream.

"Yeah, you are," Nick smirks as he grabs onto Miley's chin, turning her head to look at him again.

"I'm not!" Miley barks, dropping her gaze once more, feeling overwhelmed with a rush of emotions.

Nick chuckles softly, but feeling something wet hit the back of his hands. He stares down at it, realizing it was a teardrop and soon, he drags his eyes up to look at Miley, seeing the tears fall rapidly down the sides of her face, "Mi—"

"I'm tired. I need to sleep," Miley croaks out, getting off of Nick and backing away.

Nick immediately stands up, grabbing onto her wrists before she could run away like she always did when she was upset, "tell me what's wrong."

"I'm jealous, okay Nick?" Miley cries out. "How do you think I was supposed to feel after anticipating your arrival for days and then suddenly you're here—with another girl—who was also wearing one of my dresses?" she asks, her eyes boring with Nick's. "And if it wasn't the topping on the cake . . . you were holding her hand—"

"It was just a friendly gesture," Nick defends in a dry tone. He quickly regrets his tone of voice at the sight of Miley breaking down in front of him, "I'm sorry . . . I didn't mean to say it like that," he attempts to hold her once more.

Miley shrugs his hand away from her shoulder harshly and wraps her arms around herself, moving towards her bed, "friends don't hold hands with each other," she whispers hoarsely.

Nick bites down onto his tongue, breathing in and out as he clenches his jaw. He walks over to Miley and wraps his arm around his waist. She wasn't giving in, but she wasn't pushing away either, so they were making progress. "Mi," he cups her face in his face, caressing her cheeks in the palm of his hands. He grazes the pads of his thumbs over his cheeks, getting lost in her beautiful eyes, "I love you. I love you and only you . . . I thought you would've realized that by now," he murmurs.

Miley tries to tear her attention away from Nick and towards something else, but he doesn't allow her too.

"Tell me you love me," Nick says.

"I love you," Miley whispers, barely audible.

Nick chooses this as his opportunity to close the small gap between him and Miley, placing his lips over his and kissing her tenderly. One of his hands travel through her lock locks, holding onto the back of her head before he pulls away. Tears were trailing down Miley's face again and he frowns, wiping the tears away from her face, "Smiley . . ."

"Please don't call me that right now. Especially when I feel everything, but smiley," her voice shakes and she pulls free of Nick's hold, moving onto her bed and laying against her pillows.

Nick sighs and climbs onto the bed, settling down besides her, "why won't you just let me in and tell me what's going on?" he cautiously takes one of her hands in his, interlocking their fingers lightly. He brings their joined hands up to his lips, kissing the back of her hand.

Miley can feel the butterflies erupting in her stomach and she fights against a smile, "I have to tell you something," she murmurs softly.

"You can tell me anything," Nick encourages.

"I'm pregnant."

**a/n: So, it's like 5 in the morning where I am right now and I really needed to write this chapter up before I lost my idea because I've done that recently with a lot of my youtube stories. So uh, I didn't really go through to see if there were any typos or word mistakes, so there will probably be some if you're reading it, but yeah . . . So, Miley finally fesses up to Nick in this chapter. I'm not really sure what is going to happen in the next chapter yet, but I'm going to try to squeeze in a Mikayla and Miley moment. Hm. Time seems to really fly because it always seems like forever since the last update for this story. Anyways, I'm rambling again. Reviews are appreciated. (: Talk to you all in the next update! Bye.**


	17. I Feel PrettyUnpretty

**Uhm. Please shoot me. Okay. Feel free to reread the entire story to refresh your memory. LMFAO.**

**Chapter 17.**

"I only slept with you." She snapped curtly in offense to his irrational comment. "Are you implying that I slept around when you left, Nick?"

"I didn't say that!" He exclaimed in his own defense. "I just—the news caught me by surprise."

"And made you accuse me of not knowing who the father of my baby is?" She screamed.

"Calm down." Nick said hotly.

"Get out of my room," Miley seethed and sat up, moving away from him. "And don't ever come back."

"You seriously don't mean—"

"Go or I'll make my dad escort you out."

"Your dad loves me." He retorted.

"Not after he finds out that I'm having your baby at this age. He'll hate you." Her hot blue eyes pierced into Nick's angry chocolate marbles.

"God, Miley, I didn't mean to offend you. It's just . . . this is all happening too fast! How in the world can we become parents of a baby when we barely turned adults ourselves? I'm," he paused and stared down at his hands. "I'm not ready for this."

Miley's jaw slacked shut as her eyes burned to let the tears fall, but she sucked it up and tried to keep her voice even. "I guess I was a fool to expect you to stay with me."

Nick knew she was trying to be strong, but he still noticed the strained quiver in her voice. "Miley—"

"Please, just get out of my room, Nick . . ." Her voice was barely above a whisper. She yearned for him to stay with her, to support her, and to want this baby—_their_ baby—but if he wanted to leave, she sure as hell wasn't going to stop him. When he left, she was going to have a good cry.

"I'm not leaving," he whispered lowly.

"You don't even want to be here!" She yelled, not able to hold it in much longer. Her emotions took a toll on her and she could feel her eyes watering, but all she felt was burning hot anger within her. "Tell me you want this baby."

Nick's head fell forward and he slicked his fingers into his chocolate curls. "I'm not ready to have a baby . . ."

"How long have I known you Nick?" Miley asked randomly.

"I don't know? Like 8 years?"

"Never in those 8 years would I have thought you would drop me on my ass when I needed you the most." She shook her head, wet streaks trailing over her rosy cheeks. "I'm not asking you to give up everything for me, Nick. I," she drew in a breath and wiped a hand over her face, brushing her bangs behind her ear. "I just need you, but I guess it's not enough to need you to make you stay."

"How do you expect me to make this work, Miley?" He was getting frustrated. He helplessly reached for her hands, but she distanced herself from him. Rubbing his palms into his eyes, he sighed. "Do you want me to move back to California, Miley, is that what you're asking me to do?"

"Fuck, Nick, no!" She yelled and pushed him in the chest. "I just want you to want to be with me, to be with the baby!"

"Can you please stop yelling at me?" He asked her quietly as she turned her back to him. He stood up and brushed her hands over her waist, frowning when she winced. "I _do_ want to be with you; I'm just afraid."

"Of being tied down to me?" She asked, her throat closing up as she waited for his answer.

Nick himself felt the wind being knocked out of him as his mind whirled endlessly to find the right words to describe this feeling. "No," he answered dumbly. "I don't know," he said the second time around, which caused Miley to shift around to look at him.

"You don't know?" She asked between a harsh whisper and a gasp.

"I mean I'm not afraid, I'm just so lost. I don't even know what I'm saying anymore. I love you," he rambled senselessly.

"Are you sure?" Miley asked in mockery. "I mean, you don't even know what you're saying," she said scornfully and flicked his hands away from her, skimming the front of her stomach.

Nick was painfully aware of the gesture she just made and swallowed the knot at the back of his throat. "I always mean it when I say I love you." His heart tugged painfully and he reached out for her again. "I'm sorry that I'm hurting you, I don't mean to," he told her earnestly.

"I don't want to argue anymore," she surrendered into his embrace, letting her head fall against his chest. "Just stay with me."

"Okay," he answered numbly, wanting to bite his tongue for being so curt, but he was honestly at a lost of words. He kissed her forehead and led her back to her bed. Settling themselves onto her bed, he wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her body close to his, acting like a protective shell.

Miley's hand clutched firmly onto the front of Nick's shirt as she burrowed her head against his chest and let out a soft murmur.

"Go to sleep, Miles. I'll be here when you wake up," he reassured her and kissed the crown of her hair again. He hand was rubbing soft circles along her backside and he felt her breathing slow. "I'll always be here."

A few hours later, Nick heard someone whimpering faintly from beside him and forced his tired eyes open. "Miley?" He asked with his voice deep with sleep.

"I'm fine, go back to sleep."

He was more alert now and already reaching over to hold her, sighing contently when she was in his arms. "What's wrong?" He asked against her hair.

"I was just thinking, that's all," she said.

That was never good, Nick sighed and played with her hair. "I'm sorry about last night . . ."

Miley shrugged numbly and closed her eyes, "I guess it's no big deal. I'm going to go out with Demi later today, maybe it'll act like a detox for what's been happening these past few days."

Nick's heart clenched painfully, "I'm sure you two will have fun."

"Mhm," she answered. "There wouldn't have to be a detox if you would just tell me you want to be with me," she whispered this time under her breath.

"Can we please not start this up again . . ." he murmured quietly.

"Yeah, anything you want, Nicholas." She enclosed her arms around herself, fending of Nick's protective shell and surrounding herself in her own bubble.

Nick shook his head lightly and turned over, his back facing hers as he feigned to find sleep once again. He tossed and turned unable to find a comfortable spot or maybe it was the fact that Miley wasn't close to him anymore.

"Why do you keep moving?" Miley asked a second later when Nick rearranged his pillow once again.

He shifted restlessly and turned over, this time facing her as he jammed his hand under his pillow. His eyebrows furrowed and he let out a heavy sigh, "I just can't sleep anymore."

Frowning, Miley reached out and traced the dark circles under his eyes. "But you're tired."

"I know."

Looking down, she stared at his shirt covered chest and then back at his tired eyes. "Do you want to hold me?"

"_Yes,"_ he wanted to scream out, but didn't. "Do you want me to hold you?" He asked her instead.

Miley's stomach tightened as she felt the butterflies flutter around. She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and nodded slightly. "I can't sleep either."

Nick quickly obliged and wrapped his arms around her petite waist, tucking her body against his. "You're beautiful." He murmured and lavished butterflies kisses all over her face. His lips tingled and he pulled back to look into those magnificent eyes of hers. "How does someone become so beautiful?" He asked.

Miley chuckled softly and brushed her lips against the side of his jaw as she pushed him against the arm, "you make me feel beautiful." Her hand slipped under his shirt and she skimmed over his abs before caressing his bare back.

It was Nick's turn to laugh now as he kissed her tenderly. "Someone doesn't know how to keep their hands to themselves." He whispered against her ear. Miley shuddered and retracted her hands from underneath his shirt. He instantly felt the loss of contact and enveloped his arms around her tighter before she had a chance to squirm away. "I love you."

"You should sleep, Nick," Miley whispered and closed her eyes, laying her head on his chest and feeling the rapid tattoo of his heartbeat under her cheek. She wondered if she was the one causing the erratic rhythm.

**.twentyone.**

"_Well, this is awkward."_ Mikayla thought to herself the next morning when she sat face to face with Nick's father. Did she forget to mention that Nick wasn't there? His father informed her when she had came down that he had stayed the night at Miley's and then offered her some eggs. She dragged her fork across the plate, the loud scraping noises filling the quiet atmosphere of the kitchen as she finished her eggs.

"I suppose you're going over to Miley's?"

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, not sure if it was the wooden stool or the thought of hanging out with both Nick and Miley. "Actually, I think I'm just going to stay here until Nick comes back over or something. I wouldn't want to intrude or anything," she explained and he nodded simply.

"Well, I'm heading over in an hour to watch the game with Billy, so if you change your mind or anything, I wouldn't mind being your escort over," he chuckled and she smiled forcibly in return.

"Thank you for breakfast," she said once more, tucking her dark mocha locks behind her ear as Paul got up and disappeared into the living room. Deciding it would kill some time, she washed the dishes and utensils she used. Glancing at the clock hanging on the painted walls, she figured Nick would be up by 11 and be back over.

Passing Paul, who was sitting in the living room watching the news, she slipped back up the stairs to the guest bedroom, but her path was directed another direction when she noticed Nick's bedroom door opened ajar. Not able to resist the temptation of taking a peek, she brushed the door open; thanking God that he didn't have a squeaky door.

"Oh wow," she whispered when she stepped in. "His room looks so boring," she mumbled as she walked around in the small space. She looked at the sports posters he had up of his favorite baseball players and rolled her eyes. That boy had an unhealthy baseball addiction. She leafed through a few books he had laid out on his desk, her fingers stopping abruptly at a framed photo of Nick and Miley from their childhood.

Her heart seem to pinch a little and she flipped the framed photo over, so that it faced the table. She sat down on his bed next, rubbing her palms into her eyes tiredly. She knew Nick loves Miley, but what she didn't get was why he hadn't asked her to be his wife yet. Was he beginning to get second thoughts? Her heart seemed to flutter at that, but she knew that was wishful thinking on her part.

She shook her head at herself and laced her fingers into her hair, combing out the numerous tangles. Nick only liked her as a friend; that she knew was concrete. But she could change that . . . if she really wanted to.

**a/n: Holy cow, it's almost been a year since I updated. I seriously like gave up on Fanfiction. I'm probably going to stop writing Rumors—well, I actually already have—since I've lost inspiration. I seem to with my Nemi stories, lol, go figure. I also had a major writer's block at the end of the last chapter, so I thought I was going to stop writing this story as well. I was actually going through my word documents earlier tonight and renaming them and I happened to open up this story and I was just rereading the last few lines and remembering how I got writer's block and then I just started writing again, and BAM, I finished up a chapter. I mean, yeah, it's really short, but I think I have a plot planned out in my head now, so who knows? School ends in less than a month for me, so maybeeeee? I don't want to say I am and then disappear for 8 months because that's probably what will happen. And my laptop sorta like crashed and burned a week ago, so I need to get that fixed as well… Until next time, I love you all! Reviews?**


	18. I'm Falling

**Chapter 18.**

Nick awoke to the sound of water running and pushed himself up into a sitting position. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and groggily called out Miley's name.

Miley came out of the bathroom with her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. Her face was free of make-up, making her eyes even brighter. She was framed in a pair of black yoga pants and a crisp white tank top that hugged her curves beautifully. "Morning sleepyhead," she said with a lipped smile.

Nick's eyes trailed over her sculpted body shamelessly and he cleared his throat, "morning," he said hoarsely. "How long have you been up?"

"Not long," she answered and walked to the door. "I woke up half an hour ago and decided to take a shower since Demi will be here in a few minutes. I'm just going to go downstairs and see what I can throw together for breakfast."

"Oh," he said with a tone of disappointment. "I forgot that you made plans with her today."

"I'll be back later in the day though. Maybe, we could go and get some dinner or something?" She suggested and he nodded slightly. "You should go back to sleep," she said suddenly. "You seem worn out; I didn't mean to wake you when I was getting ready."

"No, I want to spend breakfast with you," he shifted and was now standing. "Let me just take a quick shower and then I can help you with breakfast."

"Sounds good," she gave him a real smile and left out the door.

Nick walked into the bathroom and looked at his disheveled reflection. His hair was a tousled mess and his eyes were squinty from the lack of sleep. Turning the faucet on, he let the cold water run along his hands for a moment before splashing some on his face. He reached around blindly for a wash cloth and suddenly Miley's sweet vanilla scent surrounded him and he dried his face.

Changing his mind about the shower, he did his best to tame his hair and brushed his teeth quickly. Shrugging off his indecent appearance, he exited the bathroom and went downstairs where he dropped a quiet morning to Billy Ray. The aroma of eggs and pancakes filled his senses and he sat down at the counter.

"That was fast," Miley said without turning around. She knew it was best to not take her attention off of the food. She learned that first hand after a house fire and having to spend an entire summer working the damages off.

"I'll take a shower later on or something." He waved it off. "I wanted to be with you."

Miley turned with a smile on her face, "you barely woke up and you're already going with the cheesy comments?"

"I'm a cheesy person," Nick said with a wry grin.

Miley threw her head back a little and laughed. She scraped the eggs onto a plate and set it down in front of Nick. "Do you want some orange juice or anything?"

"No, this is good. Thanks." He smiled at her and took a bite. "Aren't you going to eat?" He asked when he noticed that she hadn't served herself any.

"I'm fine," she told him. "You eat up. Demi will be here in a minute anyways and we can go get some Starbucks."

"I guess I should go over and see how Mikayla was for the night," he said a moment after he finished his breakfast. The room had grown quiet and he stared at Miley, who had grown incredibly silent.

"Are you going to be spending the day with her?" She asked.

"We're probably just going to check out some shops and do a little sight-seeing, but I'll be back before you get home, so we can go out for dinner," he said with a grin.

"I wouldn't want to get in the way of you two hanging out," Miley whispered and grabbed Nick's plate, taking it to the sink.

"You won't be. She and I have plenty of time to hang out. I want to spend as much as time with you before I leave on Friday."

"That's in three days, Nick," She said inaudibly as she put the plate down in the sink with a loud clank. She turned and looked at him with hurt eyes. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I would have cancelled whatever I had planned with Demi—"

"It just slipped my mind with everything that happened; I just forgot to mention it."

Miley's head snapped to look out the window when she heard Demi honk from outside. "I guess I should get going," she said and smoothed her hands over the front of her thighs. "Have fun hanging out with Mikayla."

"Mi," he stood up and stopped her at the entryway of the kitchen. The volume on the TV was louder now and he prayed that Miley's dad couldn't hear a thing. Nick caressed his hand under Miley's chin and tipped it up, so he could look at her face. "I love you."

"I love you too," she said quietly.

He kissed her forehead as his hands skimmed her sides and he gently laid his hand over her stomach.

Miley backed away from immediately at the contact. "I have to go. Demi hates it when I make her wait for me like that. I'll call you when I get back," she said and grabbed her purse from the floor in the hallway and took off without another word.

**.twentyone.**

"Hey there, girlfran." Demi greeted with a laugh as Miley slipped into the passenger seat.

"I really need this spa day," Miley sighed as she buckled herself and looked out the window.

"Sounds like you're going to be venting the whole car ride . . ." Demi said as she turned the radio off.

Miley surprised her by shaking her head no. "I think I'm just going to take a catnap until we get there."

"Miley, what happened when you left the restaurant last night?" Demi asked quietly.

Miley shifted in her seat and waited as Demi pulled away from the curb. She finally tore her gaze away from the kitchen window and away from Nick. "I told Nick I was pregnant and the first thing he blurted out was if it was his baby."

"What?" Demi stepped on the brakes a little too soon and the two of them jolted forward. "Sorry," she apologized when Miley glared at her. "How could he even ask such a question!" She wondered in disbelief.

"He and I got into an argument and then I was crying, and then I was angry . . . and I just gave up and asked him to stay over."

"Miley . . ." Demi started in a stern voice. "You are not one to just give up so easily when you're in a argument."

"When it comes to him, I have no willpower whatsoever. I just wanted him to hold me and forget about what was happening for a few hours. We fell asleep, but then we woke up in the middle of the fight and seemed to get ourselves into another stupid argument. I ended up ignoring him, but neither of us could fall asleep, and honestly I just wanted him close to me again . . ."

"Awwwwwh," Demi cooed loudly as she glanced at Miley with a sappy smile. "You two are just so cute." She said with a laugh as Miley scowled at her.

"He is going to spend the day with Mikayla today." She said curtly as Demi pulled into the parking lot of the Spa.

"Well, he can't just leave her at home all day. He's her friend and she's never been to California. He loves you, remember?" Demi shut the engine off and reached into the backseat for her bag.

"I guess I shouldn't have been so cold to him when we were talking, but he's leaving in three days, and she's so beautiful; I'm jealous."

"Miley, darling, have you looked in a mirror lately? You're beautiful as well, but what she doesn't have is Nick's love for you." Demi said in reassurance. "Now, stop stressing or you'll never be able to leave the spa," she said in a soft laugh.

"I just can't get it out of my head about not wanting the baby. And then this morning, he made this gesture and touched my stomach. It sort of scared me . . . all these mixed feelings."

Demi immediately stopped laughing and touched Miley's arm, "Miles, he isn't just going to pick up and leave. It's not like him."

Miley let out a sour chuckle this time and looked down at her flat stomach and then back up at Demi's concerned gaze. "Funny you say that, because he did, when he left to Boston three years ago."

Demi sighed, "alright, enough of this. We need to get you inside as soon as possible." She gave Miley's arm another soft squeeze and then got out of the car, waiting as Miley got out.

Walking into the Spa, Miley already felt a sense of relaxation hit her tense body. Following behind Demi and one of the ladies, she was lead into a scented room. "A massage?" Her eyebrow curved and her eyes narrowed at Demi.

Demi shrugged innocently, "I sensed that you need to work those kinks out a little."

Miley shook her head, trying her best to hide her smile as the masseuse handed her a thick white towel for her to wrap around herself. "I don't know if I feel comfortable undressing."

Demi gave her a look, "you're kidding me, right? We're at a spa. You have to be naked to do half the things in here." Her cheeks streaked red as a male attendant walked in. "That didn't sound right, did it?" she asked Miley, who silently shook her head no. "I'm just going to go change into my towel . . ." she laughed nervously and tugged Miley along into one of the stalls.

"Did you get Joe with those smooth words of you?" Miley joked.

"Oh, shut it." Demi laughed and stripped down, quickly wrapping the thick towel around herself. "I was thinking of going to the mud bath first, but I want you to get a massage first."

"Okay, mother," Miley said in mockery. She waited until Demi left the stall and slowly began to undress herself. She looked down at her stomach once again, knowing she was really over-thinking everything. She wrapped the towel around herself and dropped her clothes into her bag. When she walked out from the spa, she was staring at the beautiful face of one of the male masseurs.

"Whenever you're ready," the attendant said in a tone that made her toes want to curl. He gestured to the massage table.

Miley's hands were shaking with nerves and she unsheathed herself of the towel and quickly laid down to feel the towel covering her from her lower back to mid-thigh. _"Just pretend he's gay,"_ she told herself and closed her eyes as the man's warm hands moved up and down her bare back. Her body melted into a puddle and her thoughts melted away as well as a low contented sigh left her lips.

"Wow, you're glowing," Demi whispered an hour later when Miley had left the room.

"It's the oil," she looked down at her shiny arms and then back at Demi.

"Well, throw away that compliment why don't you." Demi scoffed playfully and linked her arm into Miley's. "I say we go and get a facial."

"Do you think it's like those masks on TV where you can scoop some onto a slice of cucumber and eat them?" Miley asked curiously as Demi led her into another scented room. There was a small waterfall on the other side of the room and to her imagination; she felt her troubles washing away.

"Don't eat the mask," Demi warned when they were seated.

"Well, why don't you just suck the fun out of every thing."

Demi laughed as one of the attendants rubbed some cooling cleanser over her face. "Feeling better?" She asked in a low murmur.

"Much," Miley let out a sigh of content.

Demi's eyes peeked open when she heard Miley eating something from beside her.

"No one said anything about eating the cucumbers without the mask," Miley shrugged as Demi rolled her eyes. "Is this stuff supposed to make my face feel all hard?"

"Yes," Demi answered and cracked open an eye again. "So, when they wash it off, your face will feel soft and supple."

"Either you've been here before or you really know everything about everything."

"Joe took me here a few months ago after I overstressed on my Midterms. It helped a lot actually . . . he and I even went out and got some of the massaging oils, and I'll just leave it at that." She chuckled as Miley made a few noises.

"That was a lovely bit of information, Demetria. Next time Nick and I have sex, I'll share all the gory details with you."

"Pft, it's not like you even told me you guys did." She gave up in trying to keep her eyes closed and stared at Miley. "I hope it was special."

"I was drunk and didn't even remember the next morning," she murmured.

"But, you eventually did and that's what matters. You love him and he loves you." Demi patted Miley's hand. "Now, forget I even brought it up. I don't want you to feel like these few hours of relaxing were put to waste."

"I love you, Dems."

"I love you too, Miles."

**.twentyone.**

Mikayla turned over on Nick's bed and propped her chin on top of her knuckles, unable to tear her attention away from another framed photo of Nick and Miley from their younger years. Who was she to think that she could compare to Miley when it came to Nick's love? Dropping her head onto the comforter, she sighed loudly.

"Well, this is creepy."

Mikayla's head shot up and she quickly got up from Nick's bed. "I didn't sleep in here if that's what you were wondering."

"No," Nick chuckled. "So, does that mean you were trespassing into my room?"

"No," Mikayla stuck her chin up defiantly. "It's just, I've never seen your bedroom before, so I wanted to see how the younger Nick was like." She crossed her arms over her chest and glanced around the room again.

"I was a boring child."

"My exact words when I walked in here." She laughed as he gave her a dirty look. "Have you eaten yet?"

"Yeah, I had breakfast with Miley half an hour ago. How about you? We can go downtown and check out a few of the shops they have there."

Mikayla's eyes lit up, "shopping?"

Nick rolled back and forth on the balls of his feet and nodded. "Yeah, I guess I'll suck it up for a few hours and be your little shopping buddy."

Mikayla squealed like a kid on Christmas morning. "Let me go get dressed and we can head out," she beamed with excitement.

Nick chuckled, "calm down."

Mikayla's smile dropped, but her eyes were still dancing. "Do not tell me to calm down. I always dreamt of shopping here in LA and now it's actually happening."

"I was kidding, Miki." Nick was still grinning as it was Mikayla's turn to glare at him. "I'm just going to take a quick shower, but I'll probably be done before you even finish getting ready."

"Haha, shut up and just go shower." She turned on her heel and continued down the hall and into the guest bedroom. Her heart was pounding not only because she got to see the gorgeous clothing that LA had to offer, but because she was getting to spend a few hours with Nick.

Deciding on a simple white flowly shirt and a pair of denim jeans, she sprayed herself with the perfume that Nick always complimented her on. She pulled her dark locks back into a side pony tail and kept her make-up light a simple with some mascara and lip gloss. Nick liked girls with natural faces remembering him telling her so after he tried to get off topic from their all night study session for a Chem test.

She was falling, and she was falling hard.

**a/n: I really want to finish this story up by the time I start school this fall, and I'm trying to write as much as I can with the ideas I have. Reviews? :)**


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